Side: Recovery
by ShinyLyni
Summary: When the survivors of the Neo World Program woke up, they all knew they had a lot of work to do. However, reviving their friends ends up being a lot more difficult than they thought it would be. (Takes place after the events of SDR2 and may contain spoilers from the games and the DR3 anime)
1. Waking Up

When he opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't quite the same person anymore.

As memory after memory flooded his thoughts, it took him a while to understand his situation. He remembered that he was a Reserve Course Student at Hope's Peak Academy and had been classmates with Sato and Natsumi, both of whom had died during his time there. Nanami had been friends with him, not as an AI, but as an actual person in the real world. He remembered signing the forms which gave both his consent and his entire being to be used as a test subject for the Kamukura Project.

He remembered all of that with a mixture of grief and guilt.

He remembered that, a few months after all that, he had woken up with a curtain of long, tangled black hair cascading down his body, and a noticeable lack of emotions which had been exchanged for both an enhanced body and an augmented mind. He had met Enoshima Junko, had been the tiniest bit intrigued by her notions of despair breaking the monotonous boredom he'd found himself in, and agreed to help her with her plans. He saw the terrible incident that was the first Mutual Killing Game, and remembered his apathy as he stood by and watched the members of the student council kill each other. He saw the other Reserve Course Students starting the so-called "Parade" after Enoshima leaked the fabricated details of the game to them. He had been there when Enoshima kidnapped Mitarai and brainwashed the class of 77-B. And, worst of all, he remembered watching Nanami struggle through the labyrinth of torture to save her classmates, her friends, only to be skewered at the very end and becoming the very reason her class had fallen into despair.

He remembered feeling apathetic at everything that happened then, and found himself now feeling disgusted by it all.

The events of the next couple of years seemed to blur together. At some point, he'd realized that perhaps it wasn't despair that was unpredictable, but hope. He had spent the next two years watching as the previous class of 77-B, now dubbed the Ultimate Despair, did Enoshima's bidding and dyed the world with the hopeless despair they so fervently worshipped. He saw the broadcasted videos of the 77th class participated in another one of Enoshima's Mutual Killing Games, their memories of their time at Hope's Peak wiped clean from their minds. He remembered the mixture of despair and hope the world had felt as Naegi Makoto, a student as ordinary as his past self was, defeated Enoshima and escaped with five other survivors from the school building before the Future Foundation rescued them.

He remembered finding the Junko AI in the two bear-like robots that roamed around in Towa City and ripping the program out of them. He remembered meeting the same Naegi Makoto that had defeated Enoshima Junko, and offering a hand to find the rest of the Remnants and to restore them back to their pre-brainwashed state. He remembered how easy it had been to convince the previous class of 77-B to take part in the Neo World Program; after all, what could be more despair-inducing than losing themselves and having their entire being replaced by Enoshima Junko, their idol of despair? He remembered tampering with the simulation to include the Junko AI, so that he could finally test whether despair or hope truly was the most unpredictable one.

He remembered… the simulation itself. He remembered meeting everyone in Class 77-B for what he thought was the first time. He remembered the deaths. He remembered the executions. He remembered the intense amount of guilt he felt every time a classmate of his died. He remembered spending time with each of the people in the simulation, getting to know them all and becoming friends with them. He remembered feeling lost when he revealed Nanami's true identity as an AI in the game. He remembered the shock and despair he felt when the secrets he'd forgotten were revealed. And he remembered the indescribable he felt when he realized that he could overcome everything, that he had four other friends to help him overcome the despair they had put themselves into.

And now, he remembered that he was out of that simulation.

That they were out of that simulation, a small voice quietly reminded him in the back of his mind.

"How are you feeling, Kamukura Izuru?"

Hinata looked at the person who'd addressed him, a man with icy blue eyes and an arrogant sneer across his face. He immediately recognized the man as Togami Byakuya, one of the people who'd entered the simulation to rescue him and his friends. He slowly sat up, surprised to feel that his muscles hadn't completely atrophied during the time he was in the simulation. Kamukura Izuru… so that was who the Future Foundation thought they were speaking to, huh? He couldn't help but smile a little, his face muscles feeling oddly stiff as if he hadn't used them in years. Well, they weren't technically wrong, he thought to himself as he rubbed the side of his head. Kamukura Izuru was definitely there, seeing and hearing everything, but the one answering the questions wasn't him.

"I'm… overwhelmed, to say the least," Hinata managed to say. His voice was hoarse and he felt dizzy from getting up earlier. Togam helped him out of the pod and half-dragged, half-carried him into a chair nearby. He looked around, noticing how the other four survivors were also just starting to come to. Sonia was already chatting pleasantly with Kirigiri about something or another. Naegi was helping a frantic Kuzuryuu get a bearing of his surroundings. Owari looked like a skeleton, though that didn't seem to stop her from wolfing down the box of donuts that seemed to have been provided for her. Souda was off examining the pods, sitting down on the floor as he stared intensely at the wires coming out of them. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, though Hinata couldn't help but scan over the ten occupied pods that his comatose friends were in. It… didn't seem fair that he had woken up first, before the rest of them.

Togami, watching his patient's eyes, seemed to realize what the Hinata was thinking. "The chances of them waking up are microscopic at best, and that's being optimistic about it. However, we won't pull out their life control just yet, in case there is a way to save them. I'm sure someone with talents like yours could figure something out." Did Hinata imagine it, or did Togami sound a little resentful when he said those last few words?

He's not wrong, said the voice again. Though it'll definitely take a lot of time and patience if they want to avoid any complications.

Regardless, he tried to laugh it off, but winced at the uncomfortable pressure that put on his chest. "I'm not sure if I have those talents on me anymore… well, I mean…" He looked back at Togami. "It's not like Kamukura Izuru and Hinata Hajime are really the same person, after all." The words had kind of slipped out on its own and he hadn't given much thought about it until now, but saying them out loud seemed to solidify the thoughts running through his mind. He was Hinata Hajime, and though he had the memories of Kamukura Izuru, they were still separate identities.

Togami didn't seem surprised at that statement, though he did jot something down on his tablet. As he wrote, he said, "We've already talked to some of the other survivors about the situation; once I've confirmed your physical condition here, Kirigiri will be coming over to ask you a few additional questions here."

"That's fine," Hinata said. The dizzying feeling in his head still hadn't gone away, and he figured having some time to process everything would help him out a bit. He leaned against the back of his chair, muscles already aching a little from sitting up. Physical therapy would be very helpful after all this was over.

Togami asked him a couple questions while they waited for Kirigiri to finish. Did anything seem to hurt? Could he move his fingers and toes? Was there anything that seemed to be unusual about his body? That last question was a little more difficult to answer, Hinata thought, as he rubbed some of his long, black hair between his fingers. It certainly wasn't the hair he was used to as Hinata Hajime, though he could remember being indifferent about it when he was Kamukura Izuru.

The sound of heeled boots tapping towards them alerted the two men to Kirigiri's presence. From behind her, Hinata saw Sonia wave at him before she went off to join Naegi and Kuzuryuu's conversation. "Kamukura Izuru," Kirigiri said as she walked approached him. She stopped in front of his chair, and asked, "Or would you prefer to be called Hinata Hajime?"

"Hinata Hajime… please," he said, and felt an instant rush of relief as he spoke. Reaffirming his own identity seemed to release a lot of stress he didn't realize he'd been holding on to since he woke up. "Kamukura and I aren't the same person."

Like Togami, Kirigiri had with her a tablet, which she, too, began taking notes on. She glanced over towards the Togami, who took the and and directed his attention to Owari. When he was gone, she continued, "Can you tell me everything that you remembered after you first arrived at Hope's Peak Academy?"

A vague enough question that, depending on how it was answered, could give insight to what the survivors knew. He wondered for a second how everyone else had answered, and decided that it would be best if he was cooperative and honest about what he could recall.

So he began reciting everything he could, and as it turned out, it was everything that was.

* * *

(A/N: Hey guys! This is my first fanfic I'm publishing here, haha... I'm still trying to learn the ropes of this website but I hope you guys enjoy this thing I'm working on. I dunno if I'll have a regular update schedule, but for now I'm going to try weekly or so until I run out of chapters I already have written. After that... kinda depends on how life treats me. We'll see how it goes.

Edit 10/5/2016 - some grammar issues and fixing up style; many thanks to nonanalogue from tumblr for the help!)


	2. Responsibility

"Do you have any questions for us?" Kirigiri asked as she finished writing one last note on her tablet.

Hinata threw his water bottle towards the trashcan next to his pod, watching as it dropped perfectly down the center of the basket with the rest of its brethren. He tried to think of something to ask, but anything that crossed his mind seemed to be immediately answered for him before the thought could fully form. The voice at the back of his head quietly whispered how they'd been in the simulator for a little over three weeks, how Enoshima Junko was well and truly defeated and had no chance to be revived in his comatose friends, and how if the Future Foundation found out that Naegi and the other survivors of their game were harboring the remaining Remnants of Despair on Jabberwock Island, they would be in serious trouble and undoubtedly tried for treason. All of this he was told, but there was still one question neither he nor the voice in the back of his head could answer.

"What should we do now?" He wasn't sure whether it was him or Kamukura who asked the question, but he realized it didn't matter much.

Kirigiri looked at him with a stoic expression, though her eyes seemed to soften up her cold gaze just a little. "Undoubtedly, the five of you will need to work hard to get your health back up after staying in those pods for so long. We made sure your muscles didn't deteriorate too much during the simulation, and we've provided you with the necessary caloric, vitamin, and mineral intake you needed during that time. Nonetheless, it would be best if you go through some physical therapy during your recovery here."

"I'm sure the gymnast can think up of something for that," he heard himself saying in a monotonous voice.

Dammit, Kamukura, Hinata thought, if you wanted to speak at least give a me heads up first!

If Kirigiri had noticed his sudden shift in behavior, she made no indication to show that it had affected her. Instead, she merely nodded, though Hinata thought he could see something akin to a smile tugging at her lips. "Then I leave their recovery up to you," she said, and Hinata wondered if she meant not just the recovery of the survivors, but also that of those who were still in their pods. A couple seconds of silence passed between them, and Kirigiri said, "If you have no more questions, then I believe we'r done here."

She motioned to Togami and Naegi, and the three of them began gathering up what materials they had brought into the room with them. Before they left, however, Naegi quickly made his way over to Hinata, a friendly smile on his face. "Ah, Kirigiri-san, do you mind if I speak to Hinata-senpai for a bit?"

Kirigiri stared at Naegi for a while, and Hinata saw something pass between them: a thought, an emotion, maybe even a warning. "Go ahead," she finally said, standing up from her seat. "But do be quick about it. We don't want anyone else to notice we've been missing for too long." She nodded at Togami, and the two of them walked out of the room quietly, giving Hinata and Naegi some space.

Naegi bashfully smiled again when he turned towards Hinata. "I don't think Kirigiri-san or Togami-kun would really approve of me telling you this, but since you were the one who ultimately got us all out of there, I think you deserve to know," he began nervously. He took a deep breath. "The thing is, you're the only one who remembers… well, everything. Not only do you still have your memories of your time as Kamukura Izuru, you also retain your memories of the time before then as a Reserve Course Student at the Academy, and even of the time you spent in the simulation. And that's a miracle, honestly."

Hinata already knew where this was going, but he had to confirm for himself what Naegi was hinting at. "So… the others, Kuzuryuu, Sonia, Owari, and Souda, what exactly can they remember, then?"

"They remember… well, they remember everything that happened when they were at the Academy," Naegi began. "They also remember their time as Ultimate Despair, though it seems like all four of them have broken out of the brainwashing Enoshima-san had put them through. However, they'll definitely face a lot of difficulty as they try to adjust back into their daily lives, and they'll need someone to look out for them. And the three of us can't do that, not now, anyways," he said sadly.

Hinata let that knowledge sink in, and he could tell that the other person sharing his body with him was mulling over it as well. When his mouth opened, he let Kamukura do the talking this time. "The three of you seem to be okay with shoving all this responsibility onto us, Naegi Makoto."

Naegi laughed apologetically. "Sorry about that, Hinata-senpai, Kamukura-san. If I had any other options, this would've been different, but…"

"No, it's alright." Hinata smiled at Naegi. "We share the same goal, anyways. I want to help my friends however I can, and… I think Kamukura does, as well."

Naegi sighed, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "That's a relief to hear." He glanced down at his tablet, and said, "There's one thing that does surprise me, however, that I think you guys should know."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the thing is… they all remember you. They don't necessarily remember the time they spent with you in the simulation, but all four of them identified you as Hinata Hajime first, and only acknowledged that you were Kamukura Izuru because of the experiments you went through afterwards."

Hinata blinked, and he felt Kamukura's own feeling of disbelief in the back of his mind as they tried to process that information. None of them should even know who Hinata Hajime was, let alone that he was connected to the Kamukura Project. There was absolutely no reason why they should call him Hinata instead of Kamukura. It just made no sense! Before either of them could come up with a logical explanation as to how this was possible, Naegi was already straightening himself back up, tablet and pen tucked away into his jacket.

Naegi stood back up and, with a friendly smile, he said, "Then can I leave the rest to you?"

Hinata nodded. "We'll do our best," he said. Damn, these Future Foundation people really expect a lot from us, don't they? Naegi seemed to be satisfied with that answer, nodding once back at Hinata before making his way towards the door.

Before he left, however, he gestured towards the back of the room, where a line of mattresses and a box of non-perishable food items were laid out. "We knew you guys probably wouldn't have enough energy for the next couple of days to leave here," he said, "so Kirigiri-san, Togami-kun, and I brought in some beds and food for you. It's not the best, but I hope it can get you guys started on your way to recovery. There's also a toilet and sink on the other side of the wall, though you're going to have to share it between the five of you."

He waved at everyone and said a final good-bye before going through the same exit Kirigiri and Togami had left through, the others echoing their own good-byes back to him as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

(A/N: I know I said weekly, but y'know what I'm too excited to get this fic off the ground. Next chapter will be posted on Monday, and after that it'll definitely be updated on a weekly basis.)


	3. Figuring Stuff Out

Once they heard the door close, the five survivors immediately began crawling their way over to each other, desperate to get a better grasp of the situation. Everyone started speaking at once, making it hard for Hinata to discern what everyone was saying.

"Those bastards, what did they want from us like that?"

"They only wanted to help us… right?"

"Dammit… will the others really never wake up?"

"Are we actually- did we actually do all that? As Ultimate Despair?"

The confusion spread quickly throughout the group, and Hinata saw how despondent they all looked from the information Naegi and his friends had told them. He took a deep breath and decided that it was his job to calm them all down. After all, that's what Naegi had asked him to do, wasn't it?

"We can worry about all that at a later time," he began. "Right now, I think we all need to concentrate on taking care of ourselves. It's pretty obvious we're not in the best of shape right now. After we're looking less, er, dead, we can shift our focus to taking care of our friends." The others started to settle down as he spoke, and Hinata inwardly sighed with relief.

"That makes sense," Sonia said with a thoughtful nod. "It would be foolish if we tried to help everyone else, only to have ourselves pass out due to our sub-par health. Perhaps we should start on some sort of a diet and exercise plan?"

"Leave that to me!" Owari said with a grin. "I might not be a cook, but I sure as hell know my way around food! And I'm sure I can remember some of the old workouts my coach taught me back in the day."

"As if you ever had a good memory!" Souda exclaimed, and everyone, including Owari, laughed at that a little. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "Once we get ourselves back to form, I should probably look into these pods here and see if there's anything I can do to help our classmates."

Kuzuryuu nodded in agreement. He seemed preoccupied, and Hinata soon figured out why when Kuzuryuu turned towards him with a sharp look. "So what's your deal? Are you Hinata or Kamukura?"

Hinata blinked, unsure what to say. How was he supposed to answer that? Did they even regard him as a friend, or did they only know about his existence? Without thinking, Hinata tried to reach out to the other personality residing within his head. Kamukura, what do you think?

They obviously see you as an acquaintance at least, came the emotionless reply. Good to know that he could mentally communicate with Kamukura. But as a friend, that's more difficult to say. Regardless, they seem to value your opinion, if their responses are anything to go by.

That made sense. Still, Kamukura had left out how he should answer Kuzuryuu's question. Guess he would have to figure out how to explain it himself, then. "Well… I'm Hinata Hajime, but I also remember the time I was Kamukura Izuru. But I'm not actually Kamukura himself. It's like… we're two separate people living in the same body?"

"Whoa, so it's a split personality?" Owari asked excitedly, her eyes widening with surprise.

"Kind… of? I mean, we have different thought processes and personalities, or lack thereof, but we also share memories and can talk to each other."

"So the person we are talking to right now is Hinata-san?" Sonia asked.

"That's right."

An awkward silence fell upon the group as they all tried their best to digest that bit of information. Hinata nervously glanced at their faces, trying to decipher all of their thoughts. It was an odd situation, and even Hinata himself wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Then… could we talk to Kamukura-san?"

"Eh?!"

Hinata wasn't the only person who was shocked at that suggestion. Souda, Owari, and Kuzuryuu were all staring at Sonia like she'd gone mad; meanwhile, the Ultimate Princess herself was smiling pleasantly, as if she'd just suggested for them to go out on a walk.

"Y-you want to talk to Enoshima's right hand man?" Souda stammered. "The one wh-who kick-started the first Mutual Killing game? And brainwashed us, and brought the world into despair, and -"

"You've got that wrong."

Souda gawked at Hinata. "What, are you saying he's not the evil mastermind who got us into this messed up situation in the first place?"

"It's not that," Hinata said as he took a deep breath. Now that the shock had worn off, he understood where Sonia was coming from. Kamukura had been the one to put the Junko AI into their simulation and, as such, was the reason all their friends were still in their pods. He'd been a part of Ultimate Despair, though he had never been brainwashed like everyone else, and even had his own motives for doing what he did as opposed to just spreading despair for the sake of despair. He was a mystery, and perhaps talking to him would clear some things up, even a little bit.

That, or Sonia just thought he would be an interesting person to talk to.

Steeling himself, Hinata said, "I don't think it's my place to explain it all… it would probably be best if he talked to you guys himself." Souda looked like he was about to protest, but before he could say anything, the entire atmosphere in the room shifted.

Though his physical appearance didn't actually change, Hinata could see that the other four people around him all flinched a little away from him. He felt his back straightening up a little, despite the pressure that put on his weakened muscles, and his face stiffening up as a cold, emotionless expression took over him. All of this happened to his body involuntarily, as if he no longer had control over his own actions.

Kamukura stoically looked at everyone in the room, his eyes full of boredom as he scanned over each of their expressions one by one. "You wish to speak with me?"


	4. Kamukura Izuru

Several seconds passed by where nobody spoke. The group's shock was nearly palpable as Kamukura quietly sat among them. Was that fear in their eyes? Though he knew that he had never really killed anyone outside of self-defense, nor had he joined in with the rest of Ultimate Despair in their crusade to dye the world with their hopeless ideology, he also had never bothered trying to correct anyone else who blamed him for anything. It would've been fruitless, to say the least, and besides, he had been curious about this despair Enoshima kept going on about.

He was not so curious anymore after seeing how predictable despair ended up being.

When a full minute had passed with nobody else speaking, Kamukura finally sighed. "How boring. You expressed a desire to speak to me, but now that I've appeared before you, none of you actually know what to say."

"The hell are we supposed to say anyways?" Kuzuryuu practically yelled; Kamukura knew that if his vocal cords were functioning properly, his voice would be echoing around them. As it were, though, his hoarse voice only sounded like a prepubescent boy choking on a glass of water. "You show up in Hinata's body and expect us to greet you all buddy-buddy? Like hell we are!"

"Please, Kuzuryuu-san, there's no need to be antagonistic…" Sonia said. Kuzuryuu seemed to calm down a little, though he still looked at Kamukura with a prickly glare. Turning her attention to Kamukura, Sonia said, "There was something I wanted to ask you about, but I was merely surprised to see you, ah, appear so quickly." Kamukura assumed as much, though he didn't say anything in response. "If Hinata-san remembers what you've done, does that mean you have his memories as well?"

"That is correct," he replied.

"Then-"

"Let me ask you something, then." Kamukura's gaze intensified, as if he were staring straight through Sonia's body into her soul, if such a thing truly existed. "During this entire conversation, you've been speaking to Hinata as if he was an old friend of yours. Yet, you and everyone else here should have never met him before now. How is it that you can address him so casually, even though, by all accounts, this should be your first meeting together?"

That's cold, Kamukura heard Hinata say. He chose not to answer back.

"That's because…" Sonia frowned, and Kamukura could tell that the gears in her memory were turning, trying to find an answer to his question. The look of confusion on her face was clearly copied on everyone else's as they each tried to figure out why Hinata felt so familiar to them. If he could be empathetic, Kamukura thought, the whole situation might've been a little sad. Instead, he regarded everything with apathetic boredom and a faint tinge of disappointment.

Hinata, on the other hand, was clearly upset as he finally realized what Naegi meant when he said that the others hadn't recovered their memories from the simulation. Kamukura struggled a bit as Hinata's personality began to break through, his right hand clenched into a fist as he fought to stay in control of his body. Calm down, Hinata, Kamukura warned, or else both of us are going to break down here.

It took a couple seconds, but he felt finally Hinata take the mental equivalent of a deep breath. I'm okay now. Sorry about that, he replied as confidently as he could. It was obvious, however, that the former Reserve Course Student still felt a bit shaken, though Kamukura ignored that for now. Their body had worked up a bit of sweat while the two of them had been straining themselves, but nobody else seemed to have noticed their internal struggle.

The silence was finally broken by Owari, who shrugged nonchalantly before speaking. "Eh, who cares about that. The important thing is that he's our friend, right?" She grinned widely, and everyone else relaxed a little as her carefree attitude washed over them.

"Th-that's right. We can worry about that later," Souda said with a half-laugh, half-wheeze. God, they really needed to get to work on that soon. A quick glance around told Kamukura that the other survivors were already at their physical limit; though his enhanced body fared a little better, even he was starting to feel fatigued for having to sit up for so long. Deciding that the conversation would only go so far today, he allowed Hinata to switch back into the driver's seat.

Once again, the atmosphere in the room immediately changed, and everyone, Hinata included, slumped forward a bit once the tension in the room had lifted. "We should… probably call it a day, then," he managed to say with a weak smile on his face. His friends murmured various forms of agreement, and they all somehow managed to use what remaining energy they had to drag themselves onto the mattresses next to the doorway. Owari, who took the bed closest to the box of food, handed everyone a pack of crackers and a bottle of water. He knew she said she was going to be the one monitoring their diet and exercise, though he wondered if she was planning to secretly snack while everyone else slept. Well, with the state she was in, it was probably best if she stuffed herself for a few days.

For a couple of minutes, the group tried to make some small talk as they all lied in bed eating the crackers, but it soon became obvious that they were just too exhausted to keep a conversation going. Souda was the first to pass out, his heavy breathing echoing around the room almost comfortingly. Sonia and Kuzuryuu followed soon after, and Owari, after she finished her second box of granola bars, added her own snoring into the ambience of the room. It didn't take long before the sounds of his friends sleeping peacefully and the gentle whirring of the mechanical pods around them lulled Hinata asleep as well, his eyelids feeling heavy as he finally closed them.

Night, Kamukura.

Good night, Hinata.

* * *

(A/N: I changed my mind about the update schedule. Gonna post a new chapter every Monday/Thursday, kinda like how the anime aired twice a week. Let's hope I can keep up with this before I run out of chapters...)


	5. The Dream

(A/N: Not a real chapter this time, kind of a sub-chapter I guess. Sorry about that... enjoy, though. ^^;)

* * *

The girl ran as quickly as she could. She dodged spikes that appeared from nowhere and knives that flew only a fraction of an inch away from her, screaming in pain every time something hit her. The dark, dreary hallway seemed to mock her as she ran, with no end in sight. She clutched her left arm in pain, though she wasn't ready to give up just yet.

(Make it stop, he yelled at himself. You can't let her do this. Go stop her!)

"I'll… make it back… to everyone…" she whispered as tears streamed down her face. Her run had slowed to a limp, a gaping hole in her right foot where a spike had impaled her.

Around her, she heard the taunting voice of another girl echoing around the chamber. A stray bullet managed to cut her just above her eye, and the other girl laughed at her misery. The trembling girl stared straight ahead with her one good eye, her slow steps never wavering as she trudged on. "I will not give up!" she cried with as much strength as she could muster. Her voice sounded weak, but that didn't stop her from moving forward.

When she found the door labeled "GOAL", the girl automatically put her hand on the doorknob, as if she were magnetically drawn to it. She opened the door, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Everyone…" She smiled at the sight of her friends and her teacher standing before her. She'd made it. She could finally save them-

(Don't do it! Don't, stop-)

It was all so sudden. She'd only taken a single step through the room, when suddenly something shot at her from the dark. She couldn't move as a myriad of spikes shot up from the ground, spearing through her at every angle. Her breathing was getting shallow, her blood slowly dripping onto the floor…

The spikes were unceremoniously removed from her, leaving her as just a limp mass of flesh on the ground. The sound of footsteps approaching her echoed around the room. Turning her head, she gazed at the boy with long, black hair and red eyes staring back at her. "Hinata… -kun."

His stoic expression gave away nothing as she struggled to get up. He didn't bother to help her, since he knew that she was beyond saving. Despite everything she'd been through, however, the girl continued to speak and move. He wouldn't admit it at the time, but her determination was… fascinating.

(He screamed for him, the other him, to save her. Save her, damn it! You have every single talent in the world, why couldn't you save her?)

She continued to speak to him, as if he were an old friend. "I… won't be able to help you… I'm sorry…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He narrowed his eyes, intrigued by her words. "Even in your situation, you would still try to protect someone?"

"Of course…" he heard her say.

(Of course! he screamed at his other self, desperately trying to reach him.)

He watched her as she continued to cling dearly to the last bit of life she had in her. She talked about her friends, her classmates. She talked about playing games with everyone. She talked about Hinata. Not once did he interrupt her, and only when she'd taken her final breath did he finally make his way towards her.

He stooped down and, without thinking, picked up the hair clip she'd worn, which had fallen onto the floor during her struggle. He immediately recognized it as a sprite from a game. How boring, he thought as he examined it. Its shape seemed to blur in front of him, and he felt something running down his face. He reached up and touched his cheek.

Was he… crying?

* * *

Hinata sat up, panting heavily. He could feel his sweat making his hair stick to his neck, but he didn't mind.

Was that a dream? He tried to take a couple of deep breaths, though his entire body continued to shake from the memory. That's what it was: a memory. He continued to gasp for air, the images replaying over and over in his mind as he tried to calm down.

He could feel that Kamukura was awake as well, though he refused to talk to the other personality. The dream had been too vivid, too real. He had been there. He'd allowed her to die in front of him.

And he couldn't do anything about it.

Hinata wanted to scream, but he was afraid of waking his friends up. So instead, he laid back down and cried, letting the tears run onto his pillow. Kamukura was the one who reached out to him first, as his right arm suddenly moved to wrap itself around the front of his body.

 _Why? Why didn't you do anything?_ Hinata asked.

Kamukura stayed silent for a second. When he responded, his tone seemed to be gentle, though it was no more emotionless than usual. _There was nothing to be done. I wouldn't have been able to save her._

Hinata knew it was true. With that much blood loss, it was a miracle she survived as long as she did. Still, he curled into himself more, unwilling to accept the truth. _Nanami died in front of you._

 _She would've died anyway._

 _You should've done something!_ He hadn't meant to lash out, but the anger and frustration bubbling inside him made it hard to keep calm

Kamukura, however, didn't seem to be phased. _Anything I could've done would have just made her suffer more. She wouldn't have wanted that, would she?_

Hinata didn't say anything. He stared emptily ahead, his heart finally slowing down as he accepted the reality of the past. When he did speak, all he could say was, _I miss her._

In their shared mindspace, he thought he could see Kamukura lean against him. The gesture was almost comforting, coming from someone like Kamukura. _I know._ Kamukura continued to sit like that for a while, and Hinata found himself his eyelids growing heavier as his breathing slowed back to its regular rhythm. When he closed his eyes again, he thought he could hear Kamukura saying something again, but his exhaustion crashed over him, making him fall back asleep.


	6. Second Day

Hinata had no idea how much time had passed since he last woke up, but when he opened his eyes, his body felt rather sore. He groaned and turned around, and saw that Sonia and Owari were already up. It looked like they were doing some light stretches on their mattresses. Souda and Kuzuryuu, on the other hand, were still asleep. As Hinata kicked his covers off, Owari spotted him and greeted him with a grin.

"Yo, Hinata! Or is it still Kamukura?"

Still? What did she mean by that? "Yeah, it's Hinata," he said as he stiffly tried to sit up. He didn't think that he'd be hurting all over when he woke up.

"That's a relief! When I got up, I saw Kamukura working up a sweat on the floor. Your body seems to be in better shape than any of ours, though that's not really saying much."

Hinata glanced over at Owari, noting the growing pile of boxes and wrappers on the ground near her bed. It'd only been a day since they woke up, and she'd already eaten probably half their food supply. He hoped that Naegi and his colleagues had been expecting that, else the rest of them would be going hungry soon. "Well, I don't think it'd be really fair to compare myself to you, Owari," he half-joked. Thankfully, she looked a lot healthier today, and several times more energetic. "It's good to see you're doing better now, at least."

Sonia nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Yesterday I was afraid that you were going to pass out any second. None of us were at our best, but… well, I could not help but be concerned."

"Don't you guys worry nuthin' about me!" Owari's grin only grew wider at that. "But I appreciate the thought, guys."

"Could you three keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep."

Hinata, Owari, and Sonia laughed as the ball of blond hair rolled away from them. "Good morning, Kuzuryuu-san," Sonia said pleasantly.

Souda seemed to be waking up, too, as he shifted his covers over his head. "Just- just five more minutes, please…"

"If you stay in bed all the time, your body will never get better!" Owari said. A playful glint appeared in her eyes as she leaned over towards Souda's ear, and Hinata heard her whisper, "Plus, you're missing out on Sonia twisting into some really nice poses right now…"

"WHAT?!"

Souda shot up like a bullet, only to clutch his head in pain from accidentally knocking into Owari's forehead. Both of them ended up curled on the floor for a little while, and Hinata had to keep himself from laughing.

After the group finally convinced Kuzuryuu to wake up and do his exercises, they made their way out of bed and sat on the floor. The workouts Owari led them in weren't very difficult, thankfully, though grunts and groans echoed around the chamber as they stretched and pushed and pulled on each muscle group. It was… relaxing? No, more like soothing, Hinata thought. Though their bodies ached throughout the whole ordeal, the exercises did seem to bring everyone closer together as they all worked hard to get back into shape.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today!" Owari declared as she looked over everyone trying to catch their breaths. She scratched her head as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her. "Hm, ya don't think those Future Foundation people would've given us a shower or bathtub in here, would ya?"

"Doubtful," Kuzuryuu managed to pant out . After a few more gasps of air, he continued, "Where would you even fit something like that around here? This place is cramped enough as it is!"

"Maybe there provided one for us outside?" Sonia suggested. That would make sense; if they were on Jabberwock Island, as Hinata thought they were, there could possibly be more areas the Future Foundation had prepared for them.

"Oooh, that's a good idea, Miss Sonia!" Souda exclaimed. "Then we gotta work hard so we can get out of here quickly!"

"We can probably figure that out tomorrow or something," Hinata said as he laid down on the floor. His entire body seemed to be cramping up, probably due to the excessive amount of exercise both he and Kamukura had done. Despite having an enhanced body, it looked like even they were not exempt from overworking themselves.

Hinata felt someone prodding his arm, and looked over to see Sonia handing him a juice box and a bagel. "Here you go. Breakfast," she said sweetly.

"Thanks." He took the food from her hands, mouth watering as he took a bite out of the bread. Sonia and Kuzuryuu continued to pass out food to the others, and the five of them enjoyed a nice, if small, meal together.

There was a moment of silence as everyone enjoyed the food. Though they didn't have a toaster or microwave to heat things up, the bagel thankfully didn't taste too stale. Of course, it wasn't as good as the food as the restaurant in the simulation, but at least they had something to eat. The lazy atmosphere in the room made Hinata feel sleepy, and he could barely concentrate on the conversation going on between his friends as he ate.

"So, do we have a plan or something?" Kuzuryuu asked. He seemed to be the antsiest of the group, his gaze constant tracking back to the pods.

"Of course! Work out, eat, and sleep. That's all we can really do right now, anyways!" Owari said as she fished out a third bagel from the bag.

"Not that, I mean, once we get our strength back. Do we have a plan? We don't even know what's waiting for us outside of this room, dammit!"

"We could probably go outside and explore once we get better," Sonia said. "Maybe we could even gather some resources"

"Yeah, definitely gonna need a lotta stuff," Souda agreed. "These pods are doing a good job keeping our friends alive, but I wanna see if there's anything I can do to, you know… bring them back, and all that."

"I can help."

The temperature in the room seemed to, once again, drop a couple of degrees as everyone stiffened up. One by one, the group turned their heads over to look at who had just spoken up. Kamukura stared back, his single red eye almost glowing in the darkness of the room.

* * *

(A/N: I almost considered putting this chapter and the next together as one chapter, but I realized I haven't written anything at all this week and having the buffer will help me out, haha... my bad, guys.)


	7. Planning

"I-I don't think that'll be necessary, Kamukura!" Souda stammered.

Kamukura turned his head towards Souda, who shrank back a little. "Do you think that your skills alone will be enough to bring back your friends from their comatose state? The Future Foundation made it clear: their chances of survival are microscopic at best, and an Ultimate Mechanic alone won't be able to bring anyone back to life by himself."

"You trying to pick a fight with us?" Kuzuryuu balled up his hands into fists and glared at Kamukura as menacingly as he could.

"I'm merely stating facts. If you want to maximize the chances of reviving your friends, the only logical conclusion would be if I helped you all out." Kamukura turned his attention towards Kuzuryuu. "Hinata agrees that this is the best course of action."

"Hinata?" Everyone perked up a little at the mention of their friend, and Kamukura had to force himself not to sigh at their predictable response. How boring.

"Yes, Hinata Hajime, your friend. It was actually him who wanted to have me help you after Naegi Makoto and his friends suggested it to him, and I see no problem with it."

"How do we know you're not gonna sabotage us, huh?!" Kuzuryuu yelled.

Souda nodded in agreement, though his eyes were wide with fear. "Y-yeah! You're the one who ruined everything before!"

"And how do you know that, again?" Silence followed his question once more. Their predictable responses was only making this conversation duller and duller. "While it is true that the operation to revive everyone from their pods wasn't a success because of my actions, that situation is now over and I'm willing to assist you his time. You may take it or leave it."

The four of them looked back at each other and began whispering, trying to quietly reason out what they should do.

"We can't trust that bastard," Kuzuryuu said. "Who knows what kind of shit he's got planned for us?"

"Eh, I dunno, man, he seems pretty chill to me," Owari said. She was leaning back against the wall as if she didn't care too much either way, though there was a slight waver in her voice that let Kamukura know she desperately wanted him to be able to save her friends.

Souda, unlike Owari, was shaking with fear. "Kuzuryuu's right, we don't know what he's gonna do to everyone! What if- what if they all wake up as zombies?"

"Dude, now you're just making things up." Owari rolled her eyes. "Seriously, if he wants to help us, where's the harm in that?"

"He could fuck us all over, that's what!" Kuzuryuu nearly shouted, forgetting for a moment that they were having this conversation under their breaths.

The whole time, Sonia had been silent, a thoughtful expression on her face. Souda turned to her and asked, "What do you think, Miss Sonia?"

Sonia, instead of answering Souda directly, turned her attention towards Kamukura. "Kamukura-san, could it be that you feel guilty for what happened to our classmates?"

Kamukura blinked. Humans could surprise him sometimes, though the emotion quickly faded as his analytical mind quickly came up with an answer. "I was made to be incapable of feeling such things," Kamukura replied. It wasn't a lie, though perhaps it wasn't the entire truth, either.

Sonia opened her mouth as if she was about to ask something else, but, judging from the look in her eyes, she soon decided that it would be better to accept the answer for what it was. Turning back towards her classmates, she announced, "I think we should do it."

"The hell?!" Kuzuryuu exclaimed. "That bastard's been nothing but trouble so far! Or did you forget everything he's done to us?"

"If he's the one who ruined the Neo World Program in the first place, shouldn't he be able to figure out how to fix it, too?" Souda said, his earlier suspicion of Kamukura nowhere to be seen. Kamukura suspected that it had something to do with Sonia.

"Come on, Kuzuryuu! Doesn't hurt to try, what's the worst that could happen anyways?" Owari wrapped her arm around Kuzuryuu, who groaned.

"Fine, but if he fucks up anything I'm gonna hand his ass to him!"

Kamukura didn't appear to be fazed by Kuzuryuu's threat. In fact, he looked to be even more bored after the outburst, as though he'd already predicted the other man's reaction ahead of time. Kamukura turned to address the group as a whole. "If we're done arguing, let's review the plan."

"Right," Sonia said, nodding. "So for now, Owari-san will lead us in daily exercises until our bodies become strong enough to support ourselves again. Once we get our strength back, a group of us will leave the room and explore around outside, and each day we will come back here to report what we have found. We can decide on the details once we have a better bearing of what we are dealing with out there."

"Uh, question." Souda raised his hand as if he was in school, then pointed towards Kamukura. "Am I going to be working with Mr. Emotionless here while you guys go out and have fun?"

"Yes."

"Aw, that's not fair to poor Souda!" Owari said as she grabbed the the person in question with her free arm. "He should be having fun with us outside. Being cooped up in here is no good for a guy like you, man!"

"S-suffocating, Owari-"

"I suppose that is true." Sonia didn't look very pleased, but she didn't argue further with them. Turning towards Kamukura, she asked, "Would you be alright staying here to watch over our friends, then?"

"I see no problem with that."

"Hey, we can't trust him to be here by himself!" Kuzuryuu forced Owari's arm off him and glared once more at Kamukura. "I'll stay behind and watch over him, in case he tries anything funny with our friends"

"Then I guess it's settled. Souda-san, Owari-san, and I will go out and look around, and Kuzuryuu-kun and Kamukura-san will stay behind to look after our friends. We can switch over the next day if we need to. That sound okay to everyone?" When everyone nodded back at her, Sonia smiled and went back to finishing her bagel.

The next few hours were generally uneventful; the group followed a simple pattern of exercise, rest, and eat. Kamukura didn't say anything else during that time, and nobody seemed to want to start a conversation with him anyways. Hinata had fallen back asleep, probably overwhelmed from everything that'd happened yesterday, and Kamukura didn't think it would be wise to wake him up. He needed that time to recharge.

After some time, the five of them all laid down on the floor, sweating and panting from all the exercise they'd done that day. "I think that's good for now," Owari managed to say between pants. Sonia, Souda, and Kuzuryuu all grunted back at her, and Kamukura just stared at the ceiling in silence. When she finally caught her breath, she said, "We should get some shut-eye, then. Hopefully if we keep this up, we'll be able to leave this place within the next couple of days."

"You'll need to make sure you don't overdo it," Kamukura said. Apparently, everyone was too tired to even act surprised that he spoke. "Otherwise, you'll have done all this for nothing."

"Yeah yeah, I know, smartass," Owari said; Kamukura could tell from her tone that she was merely teasing him and not genuinely annoyed. She got up, clutching onto the closest pod to brace herself as she made her way over to her bed. The others followed suit, and it didn't take long for everyone to pass out.

As he listened to the mechanical whirring of the pods, Kamukura also found himself starting to fall asleep. His body probably wasn't going to last much longer from all the working out he and Hinata had done, anyway. He closed his eyes and, for a moment, thought he could see a sleeping Hinata in the corner of his mind, curled around an invisible pillow.

Good night, Hinata, he said as he imagined himself settling down next to the other personality in his head.

Hinata didn't respond, but Kamukura didn't mind.


	8. Cleaning Up with the Yakuza Boss

(A/N: Since many people were complaining about the chapters being too short, I figured these two sections would've worked better as a whole chapter as opposed to two separate ones. I'll try to do this as often as I can from now on.)

* * *

For the next few days, the survivors worked hard to bring their physical strength back. Owari herself looked a lot fuller every day, but at the expense of the food in the box next to her bed. By the third day, the only thing they had left was a couple packs of instant ramen, which they couldn't cook anyway, and three bottles of water.

"Maybe we should go out today and see if there's any food out there?" Souda suggested as he stared at the sad pile they had in front of them.

"That sounds good. I think we're all well enough to walk around now, as long as we take breaks every so often," Hinata said with a nod.

"Oi, don't forget that you're staying here with me until the others get back. Or does Kamukura think he's too good to help us now?" Kuzuryuu reminded him.

Hinata actually had forgotten about that, only because he'd been unconscious for that whole conversation. He'd seen it in Kamukura's memories, but failed to actually commit the information into his own. "R-right, of course," he said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go explore this place!" Owari exclaimed, dashing out the door with all the grace of a rabid dog. How did that girl have so much energy after being so emaciated for so long?

Sonia followed after Owari more slowly, with Souda slavishly trailing along behind them. Kuzuryuu turned towards Hinata, eyebrow raised. "So, you got any ideas or anything for this?"

"Um…"

For whatever reason, Kamukura still hadn't quite woken up. In the little corner they shared within their mind, Hinata could see that the other personality was still fast asleep on the floor. Was he… snoring? Was that even possible in this sort of mental area they were in? Whatever; Kamukura was asleep, and Hinata really didn't want to try waking him up right now. He probably had a long day last night.

Since Kamukura was out cold, Hinata figured it would probably be best if they started tidying up the area. He scanned his eyes over the area the five (six?) of them had been living in, and groaned at all the trash on the floor. "For starters, I guess we should probably clean up after ourselves."

Kuzuryuu didn't seem very fond of that idea, but he didn't complain as the two of them went to work. It wasn't a very difficult task to do, though picking up after everyone's garbage really wasn't the way Hinata wanted to start his morning. Crumbs, empty juice boxes, wrappers- were those tissues next to Souda's bed? He hoped it was just allergies or something, but the thought of Souda using them for anything else crossed his mind momentarily. Hinata gingerly picked those up by the corner and put them in the box, grimacing the entire time.

By the time they finished, the place looked pretty much like the way it had when they'd just woken up. The whole thing took maybe fifteen minutes at most, but Hinata could've sworn they'd taken at least an hour. He trudged over to the sink and thoroughly washed his hands; if only he could wash away the image of Souda using the tissues for… No, best to stop thinking about that. He switched off with Kuzuryuu and let him rinse his hands, the same look of disgust etched onto his face. Hinata didn't want to know what his friend had found if he was looking like that.

When they were done, the two of them slumped onto the floor, already tired. "Hey, do you think the others out there are having any luck finding stuff?"

Kuzuryuu snorted. "Well, if they're not back right now, I'd say they must've found something interesting. Maybe some buried treasure if they're really lucky."

"Nah, that's not gonna happen. After all, Komaeda isn't with them."

The two of them laughed at that for a bit, before they suddenly stopped and let the reality of their situation sink in. The pods around them hummed quietly, their glowing green lights the only thing illuminating the room. Hinata and Kuzuryuu sat silently next to each other for a little while, the awkward silence weighing down on them distractingly.

Three days… though they'd been busy working out and exercising the past couple of days, now that they finally had time to think, the whole thing just felt surreal. The five of them were alive and well, walking around in the real world. Meanwhile, the rest of their classmates were stuck in the pods, their lives in limbo as they slept. And the last person, the one who never made it out in the first place…

"Hey… do you really think it's possible? Waking them up, I mean?"

Hinata looked at Kuzuryuu. The other man had completely abandoned his sharp, calloused veneer, leaving behind someone who was worried and concerned for the classmates he'd left behind. Hinata really wanted it to be true: that they could revive their friends, that they could all live together happily, away from the destruction they'd all caused in the outside world. A small part of him, though, was worried that it was impossible. The chances of them ever regaining consciousness was virtually nothing. The Future Foundation members had told them as much, and if they, the creators of the program, thought it wouldn't happen, who was he to say any differently?

"It'll definitely happen."

Kamukura!

"Their recovery won't be immediate, and it might take a while before we see any positive results. But there's always a possibility they'll come back, and if that possibility isn't zero, perhaps we'll be lucky."

Kuzuryuu looked up towards him, eyes shining with hope. "Do you… really think so?"

"There's no point doing nothing at all, or else the chances might as well be zero." Kamukura turned towards the central hub where all the pods were connected, his mind already running through lines of code and calculations. "Let's start, then."

 _Kamukura, I didn't know you cared so much about our classmates,_ Hinata said.

 _I don't. However, it's obvious they mean a lot to you, and this operation might prove to be more interesting than just sitting around, twiddling our thumbs._

 _Well, I guess you're finally living up to the title the school gave you, huh, Mr. Ultimate Hope?_

Kamukura didn't say anything, though Hinata thought he could feel the traces of a smile appearing on his face.

* * *

"We're back!"

Kamukura heard three pairs of footsteps walk in through the doorway, though he made no motion to show that he'd noticed them. Souda was the first to enter, triumphantly holding onto a fairly large toolbox. Behind him, Owari carried in several more boxes full of food and water, and Sonia had with her a stack of clothes.

"Welcome back!" Kuzuryuu greeted them with a friendly grin. "I see you guys found some nice things out there, huh?" He walked over towards them, leaving Kamukura alone to work on whatever it was he was working on. While Kamukura concentrated on the screen in front of him, Hinata took this time to listen in to what the others had discovered during their little expedition.

"Dude, there's so many cool things out there!" Owari said as she set the boxes down with a loud thud. "Get this, we're on an island! And there's like, five other islands around us, and they're all connected by these bridges- waitwaitwait, I think we got a map somewhere..."

"Here you go," Sonia said, producing what looked like a smartphone from the top of her pile of clothes.

"Oooh, where'd you get that!"

"The market we went into had many items, and I just happened to come across this in a back room."

"Whoa, that's so cool! Good job, Miss Sonia!"

Ignoring Souda's remarks, Sonia started pressing some buttons on the phone before showing it to everyone else in the room. "According to this map, it appears that we are on the Central Island. There is not a lot of interesting things here, besides the room we are in, so we went to explore the First Island over there."

"Man, there was so much good stuff!" Owari said. "They had this hotel that had a really nice lobby and a restaurant and all these cottages! We went into one, and their rooms are sooo big! There's a bed, a shower, and there's even a swimming pool nearby! Ya think we could live in those?"

Kuzuryuu's eye widened in awe. "Dang, are you guys serious? Cottages? Hell yeah, of course we should use those!"

"Then over here," Sonia continued, pointing at another building, "is the market I mentioned earlier. It had a lot of items - mostly food, but also some tools and other things for us to use."

"That's where I got these babies here!" Souda proudly twirled a wrench around his finger. "Can't do my job without some proper equipment, you know."

"And then this was... some kind of a ranch? We found a couple of cows and chickens, but we did not see anything really of note there. Though..."

"Oh, oh, they have an airport here!" Owari interrupted while she excitedly pointed at another spot on the map.

"Wait, are you serious? Did they have planes there or anything?"

"Well, they do, but those beauties aren't gonna be getting off the ground anytime soon," Souda said with a frustrated sigh. "I guess those Future Foundation guys took out their engines. Can't leave this place with them, I'm afraid."

Sonia looked at the map one last time, checking to see if they forgot anything. "I think that was all we found on the First Island. We did not have time to look at the other four islands, but for now that seems to suffice for our basic living needs."

 _Hey Kamukura,_ Hinata said, _that sounds an awful lot like the Jabberwock Island in the simulation, doesn't it?_

 _It does seem like the virtual world was modeled after its real life counterpart,_ Kamukura replied, his hands typing madly away on the keyboard. _Though that shouldn't come as a surprise; should the Neo World Program had worked, it would've made adjusting to living on the real Jabberwock Island easier for everyone if they were already familiar with the layout of the islands while in the simulation._

 _I guess that makes sense,_ Hinata reasoned.

"So, what about you guys?" Souda asked after he put his toolbox down. "Any progress or anything?"

"Mister Ultimate Everything over there hasn't spoken to me since he started," Kuzuryuu said with a roll of his eye. "I don't know shit about hacking and computers, so it's not like I can tell you what that bastard's up to."

Sonia approached Kamukura and looked over his shoulder, staring at the code on the screen with interest. "What are you working on right now?"

"I'm currently looking for the backup database from the servers, if such a thing exists. If the previous programmer of the simulation knew what they were doing, they would've saved a copy of all our avatars before we entered the Neo World Program."

"That's amazing, Kamukura!" Owari had made her way over to them and put her arm around Kamukura's shoulders, catching both him and Hinata off-guard by her friendly behavior.

 _Were you ever this close to Owari before?_ Hinata asked.

 _We never even met before now,_ Kamukura replied. _Her actions surprised me as much as it did you._

 _Eh, you can be surprised?!_

 _Even something like this was outside of my expectations._

Thankfully, nobody else seemed to notice their momentary confusion, for Sonia was laughing lightly while Souda and Kuzuryuu stared at Owari as if she'd suddenly lost her head. "O-Owari? Are you okay?" Souda stammered out, still in a bit of a stupor from witnessing such a scene.

"Hey, this guy's been doing a lot of work for us now, I think that's proof enough that he's our friend!"

"I don't think that's reason enough call someone like that our friend!"

"Anyway," Sonia said, "you should take a break for now, Kamukura-san. Come eat with us; we brought some sandwiches over from the market."

"A kind offer," Kamukura said, "but I'll have to decline."

"Eh?"

"I'll stop working on reviving your friends for now, but I will not be joining you for your meal. Such a thing would be far too boring for me."

"You bastard, you think you're fucking better than us or something?"

"Kuzuryuu-san, don't!"

Without warning, Hinata felt Kuzuryuu's fist hit the side of his face. The impact didn't hurt as much since they hadn't quite gotten their muscle mass back yet, but his cheek still stung a bit . It was as if someone had thrown a stress ball at him. _Kamukura you bastard, you couldn't have been more vague with your statements, could you?_ he thought. The other personality had some sort of twisted sense of humor if he knew this was going to happen.

"Hey, Kuzuryuu, a little warning next time before you decide to punch me, alright?" Hinata said with a laugh.

The expression on the Kuzuryuu's face made him look almost like a schoolboy caught by his teacher breaking the school rules. "Hinata!"

"Yep, that's me." He rubbed the side of his face gingerly. "Thank God you're still weak right now, or else I might actually need to patch this up."

"Who're you calling weak?" Kuzuryuu seemed to have calmed down considerably, though, and seemed rather happy to have Hinata talking to him again. "You wanna take this outside, huh?"

"Could you two stop being all fighting over there? Owari-san's already started on her fourth sandwich and I don't think she's willing to share with you guys" Souda said over his shoulder. Owari gave them a thumbs up, face stuffed with bread and ham. The two men laughed, walking over to join the rest of the group on the ground.


	9. Sympathy

_Hey, Kamukura._

…

 _Kamukura, you've been staring at this same window for fifteen minutes now._

 _I'm thinking._

 _You haven't even touched the keyboard this whole time._

…

 _You're stuck, aren't you?_

 _No._

Hinata inwardly sighed. He knew that Kamukura, being the ridiculously intelligent person that he was, wasn't so much stumped as he was avoiding the issue. And Kamukura's unwillingness to tell him what was up irritated Hinata even more. _Seriously, what's the problem? You can't hide this from me forever._

Kamukura didn't answer immediately, and Hinata thought for a second that the other personality had chosen to ignore him. _I don't have permission to access the server,_ he finally said.

Hinata was surprised. Kamukura Izuru, the most talented person in the world, couldn't hack into a server. The notion was so absurd that Hinata managed to temporarily regain control of his body, making a sound that sounded like he was suffocating on a piece of styrofoam before doubling over in laughter.

Souda, who was off working on upgrading the pods, turned to look at him curiously. "You alright there, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hinata said with an embarrassed smile. "Don't worry about it, Kamukura's just acting his age." Souda still looked confused, but shrugged and continued back to his work.

' _Acting his age'._

 _Well, yeah,_ Hinata said as he let Kamukura back into the driver's seat. _For all intents and purposes, you're a whiny three year-old little kid. What's so difficult about accessing a server for someone like you?_

Kamukura scoffed. _The Future Foundation placed many safeguards around the program, should anyone attempt to tamper with it. Implanting the Junko AI was relatively easy as I could physically inject the virus into the network, but accessing the server itself means I'll have to deal with… that._

' _That?' What do you mean?_

Instead of answering, Kamukura tapped on the keyboard, opening up a new window. The lines of code on the monitor disappeared, and were replaced by…

… _Oh._

 _Now you see what I mean?_

An image of an androgynous figure with shoulder-length, light brown hair and greenish-brown appeared in front of them, smiling politely through the screen. Hinata immediately recognized it as Alter Ego, the AI who had talked to him in the Neo World Program. "Um, hello. Is there something I can help you with?"

Alter Ego's presence, however, still didn't completely answer all of Hinata's questions. Sensing Hinata's confusion, Kamukura explained, _I need the AI's permission to access the server's database. I've already attempted to find a solution around it, but it's closed virtually every loophole possible._

 _So… why can't you just ask for its permission then?_ Hinata didn't understand why this was so difficult for Kamukura. Alter Ego wasn't malicious, and he saw no reason why it wouldn't just let grant them permis-

 _It doesn't trust me._

 _What?_

Kamukura stared at the screen, eyes narrowed. "Requesting for access to the server," he said. Hinata noticed the camera above them was zooming into their face, as if it were trying to recognize the speaker.

Alter Ego shook its head. "Sorry, Kamukura-kun, I'm afraid I can't do that. You're the one who uploaded a virus into the program before, remember?"

Kamukura glared at the monitor in frustration. _This is what I meant._

Well, that made sense, Hinata thought; Kamukura probably wasn't Alter Ego's favorite person at the moment, and all of his actions before now would've made the AI suspicious of his motives. However, during the simulation, Alter Ego had been rather helpful to Hinata, despite knowing that he was essentially Kamukura's avatar in the game. _Let me try talking to it,_ he said.

Kamukura said nothing, quietly switching off to give Hinata control of their body. Hinata smiled at Alter Ego, doing his best to appear friendly. "Hey, it's me, Hinata Hajime."

"Hinata-kun!" Alter Ego appeared to be happy to see him, smiling back. "It's good to see you again."

"Yeah, it's good to see you, too," Hinata said with a laugh. "Listen, Kamukura and I are trying to help our friends who, er, couldn't make it out of the simulation safely. We'd like to access the server, if that's possible, and see if there's a backup file or something. Can you do that for us?"

"Oh, was that all you wanted from me?" Alter Ego seemed to be a little surprised, but it kept a cordial attitude as it spoke. "I can grant you permission for that, Hinata-kun."

Well, that went a lot better than expected. "Thanks a bunch, Alter Ego!"

"No problem. Ah, but there does appear to be an issue…" Alter Ego said as a new window popped up on the screen.

"Huh?"

"It's easy enough to grant you guys permission, but the backup is- well, I think Kamukura-kun can probably see what's wrong for himself."

Curious, Hinata let Kamukura take control again. After typing in a few commands into the system, his fingers paused. "It's infected."

 _Infected?_ Hinata asked.

 _The backup data was saved after I inserted the Junko AI into the system. Thankfully, she hasn't been able to do anything yet since we haven't run the program with the backup data; however, this makes extracting everyone's avatars several times more difficult._

Alter Ego looked at them apologetically, as if it was his fault the data had been infected. Hinata felt bad for the AI, recalling how despondent it looked back in the simulation as the virus slowly corrupted the virtual world they were in. "It's alright, Alter Ego," he heard himself say. He hadn't meant to take control of their body, but Kamukura didn't seem to mind as he continued to type away at the keyboard.

"Thank you, but you don't have to worry about me," Alter Ego said. "Well, if that's all you guys needed, I'll be taking my leave?"

Kamukura nodded. "We appreciate the help."

"No problem at all. Good luck reviving your friends, then." The window with Alter Ego's image seemed to close by itself, leaving only the command prompt window and the database files on the screen.

 _I didn't know you could be so polite, Kamukura._

 _Don't count on it happening again._

When Alter Ego left, Souda finally made his way over to the central hub. He scratched his head, apparently bothered by something. "Were you talking to someone just now?" he asked. Kamukura nodded towards the screen, which only made the other man look even more perplexed. "So, what, you have a talking computer or something there?"

"It was an AI," he explained. "I had to ask for its permission to gain access into the server."

"Man, those Future Foundation guys really thought through everything, didn't they?"

Everything except for the possibility of another AI taking over the program, apparently, Hinata thought to himself. He didn't say anything, though, for fear of offending Kamukura. They might not be able to physically hurt each other (not unless they were okay with hurting themselves), but Hinata didn't want to know what would happen if he got on Kamukura's bad side.

When Kamukura didn't respond, Souda sighed. "So you're not really the talkative type, huh?"

"I see no reason to reply to every comment you make." Kamukura didn't even turn to look at Souda, concentrating on the screen in front of him.

Souda opened his mouth in retort, but no words would come out. He grit his teeth and turned away, his expression some weird mix of irritation and intimidation.

Hinata shifted in the back of the mind space he shared with Kamukura. _You should apologize,_ he said.

 _The mechanic isn't a very interesting person to talk to,_ Kamukura replied. _I only said what I meant._

 _Seriously, every time I talk to you I feel like I'm dealing with a little kid_ , Hinata said. _It doesn't matter if you just said what you meant. You hurt his feelings, and as his friend you should try to make up with him._

 _Friend. I do not see him as a friend, and I know he shares the same sentiment._

 _Kamukura…_

Forcing himself back in control, Hinata raised his left hand and slapped himself across the face as hard as he could. Kamukura didn't seem to be surprised at his actions, though he definitely wasn't pleased either.

 _That was foolish; you've only succeeded in hurting yourself,_ Kamukura said.

 _That was to make a point, you bastard,_ Hinata shot back. His patience for the other personality was quickly growing thin. _Our job here is to make sure everyone recovers, and that sure as hell does not just mean everyone's physical well being. All of our mental states are probably relatively fragile right now, and while you, Mister Ultimate Everything, might not care about that, I sure as hell do, and it would be in our best interests if you stayed on everyone's good side. Now, go apologize to Souda._

 _How boring,_ was Kamukura's only reply. Hinata was about to slam his head into the monitor when, to his surprise, he felt Kamukura moving them across the room to where Souda was sitting. The other man was absentmindedly examining the wiring of one of the pods, and didn't seem to notice the long-haired person standing beside him. Only when he muttered a "what do you want" did Hinata know he was actually paying attention to them.

"Hinata told me that I should apologize for what I said," Kamukura began.

"Mm," Souda replied, not looking up at him. Those wires must be very fascinating to hold his attention for so long, Hinata mused to himself.

"So, I apologize for offending you earlier." Kamukura didn't even wait for Souda to respond before he turned back around and walked towards the computer he was working at earlier.

A couple seconds passed, and Souda finally gave a weak laugh. "Heh, I guess even someone like you can learn to be sympathetic, huh?"

Sympathy? Such a sentiment was far outside of his emotional capabilities, Kamukura thought. Though, perhaps it was something he could learn to have.

 _You did well, Kamukura,_ Hinata said, like he was a parent complimenting his kid.

Kamukura didn't reply back as he stared at the monitor in front of him. He would never admit it, but in a way, he was glad to be sharing a body with Hinata, even if the two of them didn't agree on everything.

At the very least, Hinata's presence made his life just a bit less dull.


	10. Discussion Session

When Sonia, Owari, and Kuzuryuu returned from their trek that day, Kamukura was still in the process of deleting all traces of the Junko AI from the backup server. Hinata assumed he'd gotten most of her by now, but without any background in programming and data management, he couldn't actually be sure without asking Kamukura himself. And anytime he _did_ ask, Kamukura's only response was silence. Souda, meanwhile, was napping on his bed, having finished messing with the pods a couple hours ago.

"Did you do it? Will our friends come back?" Owari asked as she approached Kamukura. She had with her some plastic bags, and the strong smell of meat filled the air around them.

Being asked the same questions again and again was getting boring, but Kamukura reasoned that if he didn't respond, she would've nagged him until he gave an answer. Well, either her, or Hinata. "I have located the backup and I'm currently extracting everyone's information." He purposefully left out the part about AI Junko still being there; there was no need to cause unnecessary panic and confusion, especially if she was going to be deleted and thus rendered as a non-issue to the group.

"That is good to hear," Sonia said as she joined the conversation. Kuzuryuu walked up behind her, his usual scowl just a bit less antagonistic than usual when he heard the news.

"What about Souda over there? Ya knock him out or something?" Owari jabbed her thumb in the sleeping mechanic's direction.

"I assume he went to sleep out of boredom."

Kuzuryuu smirked. "Yeah, you're not exactly the chattiest person in the world," he said. Turning towards Souda, he shouted, "Oi, get your ass over here if you want dinner!"

"HAH?!"

Souda's hysterically panicked expression as he woke up once again made Hinata take back control of his body, doubling over in laughter. He could feel everyone staring at him in confusion, but for now, he didn't mind.

 _You know, if you want to take control, you should at least give me a heads up,_ he heard Kamukura say dryly.

 _My bad, but I just couldn't help it. Souda's reactions are just so funny._

When he finally stopped laughing, he saw the other four people around him still gawking at him as if his hair had turned neon green. "Ah, sorry about that," he said sheepishly, "but I'm okay now."

It took them another couple of seconds to recover from their shock, but finally, Sonia spoke up. "Right. We should discuss what we have done today, and make a plan for tomorrow as well."

"But first," Owari said as she fished out a couple of turkey legs from her bag, "let's eat!"

The group gathered together and sat down on the floor, as per usual. Sonia brought out the smartphone she took from the market the other day and turned it on, signaling the beginning of their meeting. "So as you know, Owari-san, Kuzuryuu-san, and I explored the Second Island today," she said as she pointed at the island labeled on the map. "The first place we visited was this building, which had several different kinds of medicines and some first aid material. Possibly a pharmacy of some sort."

"That'll definitely be useful if we decide to stay here for any length of time," Hinata said. "Who knows who might get injured or sick here."

"Tsumiki would like that, wouldn't she?" Souda said almost offhandedly. The others glanced at each other awkwardly, unsure how to respond to his comment. Even Kamukura stirred in the back of their shared mind, though Hinata couldn't pick out any particular feelings the other personality might've felt.

"M-moving on!" Owari pointed to another area on the map, which appeared to be next to the beach. "We found this really big house here! I think Sonia said it was a beach house of some sort? Anyway, there were a lot of swimming and diving stuff in the closet, and it had this cute little fridge, too!" She suddenly slumped forward a little, a pout on her face. "But it was empty."

"Aw, c'mon, Owari! We've got that market on the First Island for all our food needs," Souda said with a friendly grin. "I'm sure that'll keep you filled for a while."

"We could use the beach house as a changing room if we ever want to relax on the beach," Sonia suggested.

Souda howled loudly, as if he were a dog in heat. "Ooh, amazing idea, Miss Sonia!" Sonia suddenly looked as if she'd regretted saying anything.

Kuzuryuu, who hadn't spoken since Owari brought up the house, looked oddly uncomfortable as he gazed emptily at a particular pod some couple of feet away from him. Hinata vaguely wondered if it was because of what happened in the beach house back in the Neo World Program, though he quickly brushed that thought aside. If they couldn't remember their time in the simulation, there was no reason why Kuzuryuu should be so downtrodden by the events that had taken place there. Still, Hinata couldn't think of any other possible answer for Kuzuryuu's lack of enthusiasm, and he didn't want to ask the other man in case he accidentally offended him.

Instead, Hinata took the time to point out another building, even though he already had an idea what it was supposed to be. "What about this thing over here? It looks pretty big to me."

"Ah, that building is a library!" Sonia said, apparently all too happy to change the subject. "There are many different books and articles in there. It is large enough that it rivals my homeland's national library."

Kuzuryuu seemed to have perked up a little when the discussion finally moved on. He fished out a couple of pamphlets from his pockets and proudly produced them to the group. "We found a guidebook about the islands we're on in there. Seems like we're on some kind of abandoned resort called Jabberwock Island."

"A resort?" Hinata feigned surprise, having already heard all this once. "That explains the cottages on the First Island, then."

"The guidebook said that the only way to travel between the islands was by boat," Sonia said with a confused expression on her face. "It said that the islands originally didn't have bridges for fear of harming the local wildlife…"

"Those Future Foundation people must've installed them, then!" Souda exclaimed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case," Hinata said thoughtfully. "I mean, maintaining ferries would be pretty expensive and difficult to manage, wouldn't it?"

"And this last place is a diner!" Owari said, excitedly pointing at another spot on the map. "They have all kinds American foods in there, and it smelled so good!"

Kuzuryuu rolled his eye. "Yeah, but we have to make everything ourselves. It's not like anyone else lives here, anyway."

A thought suddenly occurred to Hinata. "Wait, if nobody lives here, how's there so much stuff? I mean, if this place is abandoned-"

Owari shrugged. "Eh, probably those Future Foundation guys again," she said. "I wouldn't put it past them to use these islands like some sort of storage area or whatever. Probably meant to keep us here anyway, away from all that mess we caused."

The atmosphere in the room felt heavy again, as everyone was reminded of the state of the world outside of the islands. Even if he technically didn't do anything, as either himself or Kamukura, Hinata still felt an immense amount of guilt as he reflected upon all the chaos and destruction the world had fallen into over the past few years. He might not have directly caused anything, but he sure as hell hadn't prevented any of it, either.

Deciding that wallowing in such negativity wasn't going to help them any, Hinata forced himself to brighten up. "Well, Souda and Kamukura made some good progress today," he said, his voice a little bit too chipper for his preference. There was a reason he wasn't the Ultimate Actor, after all.

Owari leaned forward expectantly, and Hinata could tell that she, too, was trying to appear more optimistic than she actually felt. "Oooh, really? What'dya guys do?"

"Well!" Souda grinned proudly as he straightened his back. "I've successfully upgraded everyone's pods! They won't have to worry about doing all that tedious exercise when they wake up now."

Kuzuryuu frowned in disappointment. "That's it? No progress on them actually waking up or anything?"

"Well," Hinata said, "Kamukura did say that he finally accessed the backup database, and he thinks he should be able to upload everyone's avatars back into their bodies in a few days."

Sonia nodded. "I recall him mentioning that when we first came back, though he did not give us an estimated time for when he would finish. This is very good news!"

"Hell yeah it is!" Owari said. "Boy, I can't wait to see everyone already."

Hinata sighed, relief flooding over him as he watched everyone's happy expressions. Though he knew that reviving their classmates wasn't going to be as easy as he'd made it out to be, his friend's cheerfulness made him feel just a little more optimistic.

"So, what's our plan for tomorrow?" he asked. "Go to the Third Island, I guess?"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Sonia turned towards Hinata, a look of determination on her face. "Kuzuryuu-san, Owari-san, and I were discussing this on our way back, and we all agreed that you should come with us tomorrow to look around."

"Huh?" Hinata blinked in surprise. "B-but Kamukura still hasn't finished extracting everyone's avatars yet, and we still have so much other stuff to do-"

"Aw, c'mon, man! You definitely need to go out in the sun while you're here. Being stuck here all the time ain't good for you," Owari said.

"Unless you want to hole yourself up in this shitty room for the rest of your life." Kuzuryuu wrinkled his nose. "And you could really do with a shower tomorrow. You smell worse than Souda!"

"Hey!" Souda yelled rather indignantly. "That was uncalled for!"

"Well, it's the truth," Owari said with a nod.

Hinata still looked unsure. "But what about our friends! Who'll look after them while we're out?"

Souda shrugged. "Eh, I guess I can stay here another day. See if there's anything else I can do, or something."

"I'll stay with ya!" Owari said excitedly as she grabbed Souda with her arm. "Don't wantcha getting lonely by yourself, man."

Souda looked like he was about to object, but when he spoke, all he said was, "O-owari, air-"

Hinata sighed. He definitely had not been planning to go out tomorrow, but if his friends insisted, there wasn't much he could do. _I guess you'll have to finish everything some other day, Kamukura,_ Hinata said.

 _This doesn't affect me,_ Kamukura replied. _I was expecting them to ask you to join them tomorrow, anyway._

 _What, and you didn't tell me?!_

 _Their body language made it obvious, I assumed you knew._

 _Maybe some of us aren't as smart as you, Mister Ultimate Everything!_

Still, having Kamukura's approval to go out made Hinata feel more at ease over the situation. "Alright, might as well explore the island with you guys," he said. "I'm sure the fresh air would be good for me, at least."

"Alright!" Owari pumped her fist in the air. "The Third Island better watch out, because Hinata Hajime's on his way!"

Everyone laughed, and Hinata couldn't help but smile. His friends, despite having all memories of him removed, still cared about him. It was a comforting thing to know, he thought as they continued to chat into the night.

Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

(A/N: Yeah, so... this is pretty much a filler chapter, as nothing truly significant really happened. I realized that only after I'd written it, but it taking it out completely breaks the flow of the story. Sorry about that.)


	11. The Third Island

Being out in the sun definitely felt much more refreshing than being cooped up in the room all day. Hinata shielded his eyes as he looked around, trying to spot the differences between the virtual Jabberwock Island in his memory and real Jabberwock Island before him.

Most obviously, the imposing Monokuma Rock that had appeared back in the simulation when a certain black-and-white bear took over was nowhere to be seen. As was to be expected, Hinata thought; it would be rather odd if such a thing existed in the real world, especially on an island owned by the Future Foundation. Similarly, there was a distinct lack of monitors and cameras around them. Hinata guessed that the Foundation didn't feel the need to check up on their every move, which made him feel more relaxed about moving around.

Otherwise, the virtual Jabberwock Island seemed to have perfectly replicated its real life counterpart, down to the shape of the trees and the imperfections in the flooring. It was rather impressive, though Hinata guessed that with an AI as advanced as Alter Ego, such a feat probably wasn't too difficult to achieve.

Sonia walked up beside him, a smile on her face as she watched Hinata take in the scenery before him. "The island is rather pleasant, is it not?"

"It's quite something, I'll give it that," he said with a chuckle. Now that he was out of the Neo World Program, he could tell how differently the real world felt compared to the simulation. The warmth of the sun seeped through his skin, the smell of the ocean seemed to enter into every pore of his body, and even the air felt less stilted as the breeze made his long locks flutter slightly around him. They were all subtle changes, but it was enough to remind Hinata that he was alive and well.

Kuzuryuu pointed towards one of the bridges, which Hinata instantly recognized as the bridge connecting them to the Third Island. "So, are we gonna go or what? Standing around all day like a bunch of assholes won't get us anywhere."

Sonia took out the smartphone and brought up the map. "Let us commence!" she said, leading the way forward. As they walked, Hinata kept glancing around, as if he was expecting something to show up. The islands were eerily quiet, and though he knew they'd been abandoned, he couldn't help but feel something was… off.

When they finally reached the Third Island, Hinata realized that it wasn't that he was expecting some _thing_ to show up, but some _one_. Rather, someones. Though he knew this wasn't the simulation, a part of him was still hoping to see the rest of his friends off exploring the islands by themselves. A sudden feeling of loneliness washed over him, and he stopped walking before they'd even made it to the first building.

Kuzuryuu looked at him curiously, an eyebrow raised. "You alright there, man?"

"Yeah, I just…" Hinata sighed, unsure how to word his thoughts. "With all this stuff around, it feels really unfair that it's just us around. We should be hanging out the rest of our friends here, chatting and having fun, yet they're all back in those pods…" His loneliness was suddenly replaced by a feeling of guilt as he recalled why the others hadn't woken up yet. If only he hadn't injected the virus into the program in the first place…!

Sonia put a hand on his shoulder, and he felt himself relax under her touch. "They will recover in time, we just have to hope."

Kuzuryuu nodded. "They'll definitely come back! Hell, I'm sure once they do come back they'll cause as much of a ruckus here as they did back in school."

"Like the time Nidai-san and Owari-san destroyed half of our classroom," Sonia said with a smile.

"Or that time that bastard Hanamura served us that drugged nikujaga!" Kuzuryuu added.

"Actually, I think that was Saoinji-san's doing."

Hinata laughed. "Man, it sounds like you guys were all pretty close back then."

"Hell yeah they were!" Kuzuryuu said as he grinned. Sonia's smile seemed to grow as well as they recalled their time with their classmates. "Couldn't have found a better class than ours in a million years."

"We became close thanks to our teacher, Yukizome-sensei, and our class representative, Nanami-san," Sonia said. Her smiled suddenly disappeared from her face, her expression replaced by one of sorrow. "Nanami-san…"

Hinata felt his stomach churn unpleasantly as he recalled the dream he had the other night. The endless screaming, the pool of blood, the indifferent boredom… Not wanting to dwell on such memories, Hinata shook his head to clear the thoughts and gestured towards the closest building. "Should we get going, then?"

The other two seemed to be glad for the distraction, nodding back at him as they walked into the building. The area was just as eerie as Hinata remembered it to be, possibly even more so now that nobody else was there. He walked up to the front counter, hoping to find something useful… whatever that might be. The other two explored the rest of the room, both of them looking just as unsettled as he felt.

"What kind of a fucked up place is this?" Kuzuryuu said as he knocked over an empty water dispenser, making it clatter loudly on the ground.

Sonia carefully placed her hand on the door next to the receptionist's desk and looked at the gaudy neon lights flashing above her. "Jabberwock Hospital," she read out loud. She gently pushed the door open before walking through it.

Hinata and Kuzuryuu followed after her, their footsteps echoing around them as they walked down the hallway. The floorplan was exactly as Hinata remembered it to be, and he found himself half-expecting the three of them to run into Tsumiki fretting over their sick friends. Then he remembered what happened to her during the simulation, and felt a sick sense of gratitude that perhaps she wasn't there with them.

The three of them said nothing as Sonia opened another door, which led them into the first patient room. The hospital bed in the corner had a layer of dust on it, as if it hadn't been used in a while. Some drawers stood against the opposite wall, which Hinata opened out of curiosity. Unsurprisingly, the drawers held various kinds of medical equipment, mostly just gloves, bandages, and tongue depressors. However…

"Hey, um, do either of you guys know how to cut hair?"

Kuzuryuu and Sonia looked at him oddly as he took out a pair of scissors. "Yeah, I cut my sister's hair all the time back in the day. You want a haircut?"

Hinata had nearly forgotten about Kuzuryuu's younger sister. Well, that wasn't entirely correct; because of all the memory loss he'd gone through and everything else that'd happened in the past few days, he hadn't had time to think about her much. But now that Kuzuryuu had brought her up, Hinata could finally piece together the bits of memory he had of her and what he'd learned about during the events of the simulation. He recalled the conversations he had with her about their respective lack of talents back in their classroom, the despair he felt when he'd heard the announcement of her death, and the picture of her bloodied body he saw while he was in the simulation…

Shoving the unpleasant memories aside, Hinata handed the scissors over to Kuzuryuu. "Ah, that's right, I was in the same class as your sister," he said as he sat down on the bed.

Kuzuryuu stared at him with a questioning look on his face. "You knew Natsumi?"

"We talked a bit when she first transferred to Hope's Peak," he explained. He wasn't sure if he should bring up anything else, knowing that Natsumi's death was probably a sore spot for Kuzuryuu. Kuzuryuu didn't comment any further, though he did nod once as he began snipping away at Hinata's hair.

After about fifteen minutes, Kuzuryuu finally stepped back with a smug grin on his face. "There, all done," he said. Hinata ran his fingers through his hair, frowning when he realized it was still longer than he'd liked it to be.

"Kuzuryuu-"

"What, not satisfied?" Kuzuryuu put the scissors back into the drawer they'd found it in. "I told you, I cut my sister's hair all the time. I only know one style."

Sonia giggled lightly, admiring Kuzuryuu's handiwork. "Well, you do look very pretty, Hinata-san."

"Thanks," Hinata murmured as he continued to comb through his hair. Whatever, at least he didn't look like a walking mass of seaweed anymore. Standing back up, he turned to the others and said, "Let's get going?"

After exploring the other patient rooms and finding nothing particularly useful, the trio left the hospital and made their way to the other buildings on the island. The live music venue was fairly dusty from lack of use, and Hinata had to force himself to not think about Saoinji and Mioda's murders that had taken place in simulation. The motel, as unsettling as it looked, held nothing interesting in it, either. The movie theater had a variety of different films in stock, though nobody in the group was in the mood for watching anything.

The only other area which held anything of note for them was Electric Avenue, which, unsurprisingly, had many kinds of electronic goods, just like its virtual counterpart in the Neo World Program. Hinata mused that Souda would've enjoyed this area the most, with all the different gadgets lying around. The three of them picked out a handful of cellphones and walkie-talkies for communication purposes, and continued on their way.

Once they'd finished exploring the island, the sun had already moved a fair distance across the sky. Stretching, Hinata said, "That's all we needed to do today, right? Let's go back to the Central Island and tell the other two what we've found today."

"Oh, no we're not, you forgetful bastard," Kuzuryuu said with a disapproving glare. "We're going back to the First Island so you can wash off before you stink up the whole island."

Sonia laughed lightly while Hinata huffed in embarrassment. "Additionally," she said, "we still need to retrieve some food from the market. Kuzuryuu-san and I will be waiting for you there while you shower."

"Gee, thanks, guys," Hinata muttered. The group walked over to the First Island, and, after grabbing a change of clothes and listening to Sonia's directions, Hinata made his way towards the cottages. Without thinking, he automatically went into into the cottage positioned where his old one back in the simulation was; it was only when he was halfway through stripping his shirt off when he realized what he'd done. Not like it truly mattered which cottage he had went into, but the observation still amused him slightly.

A light tinkling sound broke Hinata out of his thoughts. Glancing down, he saw what appeared to be a hairpin modeled after a sprite in an old game. No, wait… he definitely recognized that shape. He stooped down and picked it up, examining it more closely.

His surroundings seemed to warp around him, and suddenly, the hairpin was stained a bright pink color. The room he was in was dark and spacious, and below him he saw a pool of blood, matching the color of the accessory he held in his hand. He let go the hairpin in shock with a yell, and the vision gradually faded from his eyes. Panting heavily, Hinata dropped onto the floor and covered his mouth, forcing down what little food he had in his system back down. The bile taste of vomit couldn't mask the metallic smell that seemed to linger in the room, though, even if the tiled flooring had no trace of the blood he saw earlier.

He felt himself taking deep breaths, and realized Kamukura had taken over for him during his moment of panic. His heart rate slowed to a normal pace, though his mind continued to replay the scene over and over for him. He stayed in that position for a while until his body finally calmed down, and he felt himself slowly standing up. He didn't argue with Kamukura as the other personality finished taking off his clothes and climbed into the shower; he still felt far too mentally shaken to even be fully aware of what was going on.

When he'd finished showering and changed into his clean set of clothes, Kamukura made his way over to the marketplace, hairpin stowed safely away in his suit pocket. Neither Sonia nor Kuzuryuu asked him what had happened, though he knew both of them were concerned for their friend. The three of them silently walked back towards the Central Island, with Hinata quietly shaking in the back of their shared mind.

By the time they'd gone back to the Central Island, the sun was already starting to set, dying the sky a pale orange. Hinata had finally managed to regain some form of control over his emotions, and Kamukura switched off with him once he felt he was well enough to use his body again.

"Nothing too fancy at that island today, huh?" Hinata managed to say as they walked towards the building where the rest of their friends were. He didn't want to worry the other two, and hoped that making small talk would help break the discomfort they had felt earlier.

Sonia smiled at him, glad that he was okay. "The live music house was very open, if a bit dusty. We can clean it up once our friends get better; I would like to see them perform in there when they join us!"

"And that place with all those electronic goods looked useful," Kuzuryuu added. "You think that bastard mechanic would like it there?"

"We can probably tell him about it when we report what we did today," Hinata said. He pushed the door open, forcing himself to be excited to talk about their findings with Souda and Owari. "Hey guys, we're ba-"

"THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE!" Hinata nearly toppled over as a pink and yellow mass suddenly rammed into him. Souda appeared to be distressed, shaking violently as he pointed somewhere behind him. "I-I was just fixing up the pods, and Owari was taking a nap, and I was g-gonna just wake her up for l-l-lunch when-"

"Oh, they're finally back?" Owari stepped up behind Souda. "Yeesh, took you guys long enough! We've had our hands full over here while you were gone."

"What do you mean?" Sonia asked, trying to look over their shoulders. "We have only been away for a few hours."

Kuzuryuu scoffed. "How badly did you shitheads fuck up this time? I swear, if you knocked out someone's life support while we were out-"

"Ah, is that Sonia-san? And Kuzuryuu-kun?"

Hinata stiffened, recognizing the voice immediately. No, that couldn't be… his eyes darted to the beds, spotting a lone figure sitting on Souda's mattress. At first, he couldn't quite make out the details of the other person, but as his eyes adjusted to the weak lighting of the pods, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Komaeda waved at them, his white hair standing out against the darkness. "I'm back."

* * *

(A/N: I know I posted this early, but that's because I feel bad that I've run out of chapters to post now! Sorry, everyone... I'm gonna have to take a one month hiatus so I can write some more, so hopefully I can start posting again come December. Think of it as an early Christmas present, I guess. See you guys then~)


	12. Komaeda Nagito

"Ah, I see," Komaeda said as he took another cracker out of the pack he had on his lap. "So to recap it all: we've been in some virtual simulator in order to help us recover from Enoshima-san's brainwashing, though something glitched out and now we're the only ones who're awake?"

"More or less, yeah," Hinata said. He glanced over to the others, who were on the other side of their line of beds. The group had decided that it would be best to have Hinata explain the situation to Komaeda by himself; though they said it was because he had the best grasp on the situation and thus would be able to tell it better than any of them, he guessed it was also because they plain just didn't want to interact with Komaeda.

 _They definitely don't want to interact with him,_ Kamukura said.

 _I didn't ask for confirmation, thanks,_ Hinata said. Turning his attention back towards Komaeda, he said, "Do you have any questions? Anything I didn't explain well enough?" When Komaeda shook his head, he continued, "Now know what's basically going on here, can I ask you some things?"

"Sure, fire away," Komaeda said.

Hinata took a deep breath. "First of all, how much… do you remember?"

"About the simulation?"

"Yeah, if that's alright with you."

Komaeda chuckled. "Yeah, that's fine." He leaned against the wall, the empty packet of crackers crumbled next to him. "Let's see… I definitely remember we were all in a classroom that looked a lot like the one we were in back at Hope's Peak, though at the time I definitely thought it was my first time there. Then, this weird white rabbit popped out of nowhere, introduced herself as our teacher, Usami, and suddenly we were all on a tropical island! And that's where I met you, if I'm remembering right." Hinata nodded, trying to keep the surprise off his face. "Usami told us to go around and talk to everyone to collect these 'hope shards, and once we got all of them, she told us to go towards the central island."

"Then…" Komaeda furrowed his eyebrows. "Then… I can't really remember. I guess that's when the glitch happened, as you called it."

Hinata sighed with relief. Though Komaeda had remembered more than everyone else, he at least couldn't remember anything about Monokuma, or the killing game they'd been forced into. "Thank you, that answers my question." He could feel a twinge of amusement from Kamukura, but chose to ignore it for now.

"Anything else you need to know?" Komaeda asked.

"Just a couple things, though they're mostly just for evaluating your current physical condition." Komaeda nodded and gestured for Hinata to go on. "How are you feeling right now?"

"Tired. Shaky. Though I can't quite feel my left hand," Komaeda said with a laugh.

Hinata grimaced as he glanced at the appendage in question. "We can get Souda to make you a prosthetic replacement, if you like."

"Nah, this is fine for now," Komaeda said. Smiling, he said, "I don't want to burden all of you with my talentless self."

Ah, there he goes. Hinata was hoping that breaking out of the simulation would mean Komaeda's strange obsession with hope and talent would be gone, but alas, such was not the case. "It wouldn't be a burden at all, I can promise you that."

Komaeda shrugged. "I think it's important that I keep it with me, at least for now. I don't want to forget about… well, about what we've done."

Why anyone would want to keep a piece of Enoshima with them was outside of Hinata's comprehension, but he took Komaeda's word for it. It wasn't the strangest thing he'd ever done, that's for sure. Not wanting to linger too long on the subject, Hinata asked, "Are you hurting anywhere?"

"Just some sore muscles." Komaeda rolled his shoulders a bit, and Hinata saw a bead of sweat running down his neck. That's right, he'd just woken picked up a pillow and put it behind Komaeda's head. "Ah, thanks."

"No problem, though I think that should be enough for today. Your body is still weak, more so than anyone else due to your previous health issues."

"I'll be fine, Hinata-kun."

"No," Hinata said firmly, "you need to rest now. Doctor's orders." He took a quick glance over Komaeda's body, noticing just how badly the other was trembling. He didn't need to be an expert to know Komaeda was probably overexerting himself right now just to talk to him.

Komaeda, however, laughed at that. "Since when were you a doctor?" He pretended to think for a moment, before saying, "Oh, right, you're the Ultimate Hope. Of course you'd be a doctor."

"That's-"

"Anyway, I'll go ahead and take that nap you prescribed, Doctor Hinata. Good night!"

Hinata rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile as he watched Komaeda fall asleep. When he was sure his friend had passed out, he made his way over to join the rest of the group on the other side of the beds. Owari waved at him as he sat down.

"Hey, welcome back!" she said, her mouth full of bits of bread and ham.

"Yo," Hinata said as he picked out a sandwich for himself. "What've I missed?"

"We did not want you to be excluded for anything important, so we have just gone over what we found on the Third Island," Sonia explained.

Hinata nodded. "So I guess now it's time for Souda and Owari's report?"

"Eh, nothing new on our part, 'cept for Komaeda randomly waking up," Souda said with a shrug. "There's only so much I can do to upgrade the pods with the materials I have. Optimized them so that they use less energy, that's about it." He paused for a moment and stared at Hinata for a moment. "Uh, hey man, I didn't realize it when you walked in, but, er…"

"What happened to your hair?" Owari asked. She picked up a lock and frowned. "It's all gone!"

"I cut it for him," said Kuzuryuu as he proudly puffed his chest. "Not a bad job, huh?"

"It's still longer than I'd like it to be," Hinata muttered. Owari and Souda both burst out laughing, only for Sonia to shush them with a quiet "shhhh".

"I'll tell you what, Hinata," Owari said in between fits of laughter, "I'll fix your hair back up next time we go out, even though you look really pretty right now."

"Absolutely stunning!" Souda added.

Hinata sighed. "That'll be great, if you don't mind. Thanks, Owari."

"No problem!" Owari said, beaming brightly.

"Ha?! You're saying I cut it badly?" Kuzuryuu said with mock offense.

Hinata defensively put up his hands. "No, no, not at all! I'd just prefer it to be shorter, that's all,"

Kuzuryuu huffed. "Ungrateful bastard."

"So… what's our plan for tomorrow then?" Owari asked.

"W-w-w-wait! What about me?!"

"The hell are you going on about, Souda?" Kuzuryuu asked with a raised eyebrow.

Souda wildly gestured towards his currently occupied bed. "I need a place to sleep! How can I sleep if Komaeda's there?"

"You could share the bed with him," Owari said.

Souda grimaced. "Eugh, no way! I think I'll just take a cottage, thank you!"

Hinata blinked, an epiphany suddenly hitting him. "That's actually an excellent idea!" he said, almost shouting. He clapped a hand over his mouth as he reminded himself that there was a sleeping person in the room.

Souda looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh? What was with that sudden outburst?"

"Well… if Komaeda's woken up, it shouldn't be long before others start waking up as well, right?" Hinata said.

"If we assume it wasn't his luck that woke him up way before everyone else," he heard Kuzuryuu mutter. Hinata chose to ignore that.

"If they start waking up, they'll need a place to rest while they recover. However, they'll likely be weak like we were when we first woke up, so it'll be best if they stayed here and took the beds. And since we're all basically well enough to walk around now, we could go sleep in the cottages instead."

All of them seemed to think for a while. "That's not a bad idea," Owari finally mused, "but how will we communicate with each other? Y'know, in case there's an emergency, or whatever."

Sonia took out the cellphones and walkie-talkies from her bag. "We got these from Electric Avenue. I am unsure if the phones will work, but the walkie-talkies should function well enough for our purposes."

"Oooh, what an excellent solution, Miss Sonia!" Souda excitedly grabbed one of the walkie-talkies and looked it over. "Hm, maybe I could tweak these so that their range extends over all the islands. What do you think, Miss Sonia?"

Sonia, however, was looking at at Hinata now. "So we will go rest at the hotel from now on, correct?"

"Er, yeah, pretty much," he said.

"But do we not still need someone to watch over our friends, should something happen to them?"

Right, that would be an issue. Hinata scratched the back of his head. "I guess I could do that for now. I mean, I'm the only one with medical knowledge and stuff to know how to deal with potential complications."

"You mean Kamukura's the only bastard with medical knowledge," Kuzuryuu pointed out.

Hinata took a deep breath. "Yes, but you get what I mean. It'll be one less bed, but we could always move more mattresses from the cottages if we ever really need to." Plus, Hinata noted to himself, if he stays here, he gets to keep an eye on Komaeda, should his condition suddenly worsen. When everyone nodded in agreement, Hinata said, "Alright, with that solved, what about our plan for tomorrow?"

After a bit of short discussion, the group came to the conclusion that exploring the fourth island could be put on hold. Souda insisted that he needed to go to the Third Island and take a look at Electric Avenue, and see if he could scavenge anything there that he could use for the pods and whatever else they might need. Owari and Kuzuryuu had agreed to go with him. Meanwhile, Sonia would stay behind to help look after their other classmates while Kamukura worked on hacking into the simulation and looking into precisely why Komaeda had been able to wake up before everyone else. When everyone agreed to the plan, the group dispersed, with the other four picking up what few belongings they had (mostly just clothes and the walkie-talkies) before waving at Hinata and leaving the building.

Hinata exhaled loudly, making his way over to his bed. Komaeda's heavy breathing let him know the other man was still fast asleep, despite all the noise he and the rest of the group had made. For a second, he wondered if Komaeda had somehow slipped back into his coma; with his already poor physical condition, it wouldn't be surprising if he somehow did. He found himself reaching over to adjust the blanket, only for Komaeda to curl away from him.

 _He'll be fine,_ Kamukura said. _He's been fidgeting in his sleep and responds to touch in a non-reflexive way._

Hinata sighed in relief. _That's good to know._ He looked at Komaeda for a while longer before finally pulling his covers over himself.

 _It's alright if I fall asleep then, right?_ He'd had a long day, and found his eyelids quite heavy now that he was lying down.

 _Komaeda Nagito's condition is relatively stable, though I'll check up on him once every two hours to ensure that his health does not worsen while you're unconscious._

 _I'm not sure our body can take tha-_

 _You forget that our body has been enhanced beyond normal human capabilities._

Hinata rolled his eyes, but didn't argue any further. _Alright, suit yourself. Good night, Kamukura._

 _Night._

* * *

(A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, but I've had so much on my plate lately it's been hard to find time to continue writing. Updates will be sporadic, depending on how much I can get done, but hopefully I can keep to some sort of schedule.)


	13. A Slow Day

Hinata stretched as he woke up, noting how his body didn't feel as rested as usual, but still energized enough to go through his normal routine. He glanced over towards Komaeda and saw that in the space between his their beds was a plastic bucket filled with various food items, including some fresh fruits. Kamukura probably got them from somewhere on the island, he thought as he picked up a banana. Well, might as well have some breakfast.

"Good morning, Hinata-kun!" Looking up, Hinata saw Komaeda lying on his mattress, smiling at him.

"Morning, Komaeda," Hinata replied as he opened the pack in his hands. "Did you rest well?"

"Not really, it's kinda hard to sleep when I've been unconscious for several days already." Komaeda laughed. "I think I annoyed Kamukura at one point, I told him I had to go to the bathroom and he didn't seem to pleased to have to carry me there."

Hinata blinked. "I never told you about Kamukura, how did you know-"

"I tried talking you, but you wouldn't say anything or even react each time I tried, which isn't really… well, it's not really like you. So I kind of assumed I was talking to Kamukura, and not you."

Why Komaeda had assumed the person who helped him in the middle of the night was Kamukura and not, well, a tired Hinata who wasn't in the mood to speak at 3 in the morning, Hinata couldn't guess, but he chose not to think too hard about it. He knew Komaeda was a lot more intelligent than he usually let on, so it probably wasn't too much of a stretch to assume he managed to piece it all together somehow. He took opened a bag of white bread and held it out towards Komaeda. "Want some breakfast?"

"I couldn't possibly take food from somebody like you!"

Rolling his eyes, Hinata said, "Well, you're going to have to. Eat, alright? You need to get your strength back somehow."

As they ate breakfast, Hinata heard the door open, and looked up to see Sonia walking in with a basket, its opening covered with some clean linen. "I hope I did not wake you two up?" she said as she approached them.

"Hardly, we've been up for a good twenty minutes now," Hinata said as he finished his banana.

Komaeda, still lying on the bed, turned over to look at their friend. "Good morning, Sonia-san!"

"Good morning, Komaeda-san." Sonia turned the corner of her lips upward, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

 _She doesn't trust him,_ Kamukura pointed out. _None of the others do._

 _Yeah, well, it's kind of hard to when it's so hard to read him He isn't exactly the sanest guy in the world._

Knowing the other personality was now up, Hinata stood up and tossed his banana peel into the box of trash next to what used to be Owari's bed. "Thanks for coming over and looking after everyone, Sonia."

"It is my pleasure. As a princess, it was my duty to make sure that my subjects received only the best that I could offer them. And now, as a friend, it is my honor to make sure that my friends receive the best care that they can get." The smile she shared with Hinata was warmer and friendlier, and he had to force himself not to bow down and worship her as his own ruler.

"Right, well, it's going to get pretty boring here today. I don't think Kamukura really enjoys talking to people."

"That is fine. I have brought some fresh bedsheets and pillowcases, so that our friends may lie on clean sheets when they awaken. But, of course, I am also here to accompany you so that you may not feel so alone."

"That's- well, um, thanks, Sonia. I really appreciate it." He glanced over towards Komaeda, who was finishing up the crackers he had. "You gonna be okay there?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Komaeda said as he waved his good hand in a shooing manner. "Do what you need to do, Hinata-kun, and let your hope shine bright enough that our classmates can wake up!"

 _That's gonna get irritating,_ Hinata thought as he walked over to the monitor.

 _It's only irritating if you let it get on your nerves. You're free to ignore him,_ Kamukura replied as they switched off and began typing on the keyboard.

Hinata inwardly sighed. _You're right. Why are you always right?_

 _It might be because I was made-_

 _That was a rhetorical question._

 _And I was humoring you with an answer._

 _You're really annoying as well, you know?_

 _I'll make sure to continue to be so._

The next few hours went on mostly in silence, the clacking of Kamukura's hands on the keyboard the only sound echoing throughout in the room. Occasionally, Hinata could hear Sonia and Komaeda talking, though the conversations were usually fairly short. He guessed Sonia probably wasn't in a chatty mood that day.

Four hours after he had begun, Kamukura felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Sonia holding out a covered plastic tray towards him. Kamukura took it and removed off the cover, revealing some hamburger steak and stir-fried vegetables on the side.

"It is not much, but I cooked what I could before coming here. I might have burnt the meat a bit, and the vegetables might be stale. I am not as good at making food as Hanamura-san, but-"

"This will do." Kamukura took the chopsticks, which had also been neatly placed into the box, and took a bite out of a carrot. The texture was much too soft, and there wasn't enough salt to make it palatable, but at least it was edible to some degree. Sonia watched him eat, looking at him expectantly. Realizing she was waiting his response, Kamukura said, "Thank you."

"You are welcome." She turned around and went back to examining the pods, situating herself next to one pod in particular.

 _Is that-_

 _Tanaka Gundam's pod, yes. She has been with that pod the longest._

 _You haven't looked away from the screen this whole time, how on earth do you know that?_ Hinata asked incredulously.

 _Her footsteps and her breathing allow me to estimate her location at any given time._

After lunch, Kamukura continued to work quietly, though he could hear Komaeda and Sonia talking behind him. The two talked in low voices, as if afraid of disturbing him, though it was clear Sonia had finally stopped being so cautious of Komaeda. He couldn't clearly hear what the two were saying, as the humming of the pods around them distorted some of the wavelengths of their words, but he could still deduce most of their conversation despite all the extraneous noise. He chose not to interfere; after all, it was not part of his job to deal with everyone's business.

When the others finally returned, Kamukura turned off the monitor and walked over towards the beds, joining the rest of group there. He quietly switched off with Hinata as they moved, who was more than happy to finally get to do something other than staring at code. The day had been mostly uneventful; Souda, having done all he could to the pods, decided it would be best if he started working on possibly building a communication tower so that they could call each other should they walk out of the usual range of their walkie-talkies. Owari had decided to help by doing most of the heavy lifting, and Kuzuryuu did most of the housekeeping by making them food and carrying the tools around.

"It'll probably take me another couple days to finish it," Souda said. "Usually wouldn't need this long, but having to make all the parts basically from scratch means I'll need at least a whole day for that."

"So, what about you guys?" Owari asked. "Any news?"

Sonia's eyes sparkled. "Komaeda-san has introduced me to a book series that he believes I might enjoy! I was hoping I could go to the library tomorrow and see if it is available."

"What? No! You can't just go read a book when we have so much shit to do!" Kuzuryuu exclaimed.

"Why not? All of you have been working so hard to revive our friends, but you've forgotten about keeping your own hope alive," Komaeda said, leaning over from his bed.

"This is my bloody damn hope, you bastard! I just want our friends to wake up, and here you are without a damn in the world pretending to give a fuck about our so-called 'hope'. I'm sick of it! You don't know a damn thing about what we've done, what we have to do. You don't get a say-"

"Er, Kuzuryuu?" Owari said while raising her hand.

"What?"

"Maybe he has a point." Owari scratched her head, as if she was thinking. "Like exercise, overworking ourselves so much can't possibly be good for us. Maybe taking a day off is a good idea? Or else we're gonna burn ourselves out."

Souda nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of doing all this work. D-don't get me wrong, I love being a mechanic! But a guy's gotta take a break, y'know?"

Kuzuryuu groaned loudly. "Why can't you guys see how important this is?"

"Perhaps Kuzuryuu-san is correct," Sonia said. "It would be foolish of me to abandon my responsibility to my friends just to pursue my own interests. Besides, I can always read the book after we have revived everyone."

Hinata thought for a moment. "What if you just read at night? When you all go back to your cottages and there's nothing else to do, you could read the book then and enjoy yourself. As for Souda, you could give instructions to Owari and Kuzuryuu to help you do your work so that you can have some time off. You've been working pretty hard for the past few days, and definitely deserve a break."

"I knew I could count on you, man!" Souda said with a grin and a thumbs up.

Kuzuryuu sighed. "I guess that's okay," he muttered to himself.

Beaming happily, Sonia said, "Well, since it is still not too dark, I shall go to the second island to pick up this book to read."

"Oh, oh, Miss Sonia! I'll go with y-"

"Owari-san, would you like to accompany me to the library?"

"Eh, sure, why not. I'll pick a bite to eat at the cafe as well, if you don't mind."

"Alright, that seems to settle it," Hinata said with a grin. Ignoring Souda's whimpering, he said, "Let's call it a day, then. We seem to be making some good progress; Kamukura's working on rebuilding our friends' data from the backup files, and he says it should be just less than a week before he's done."

Everyone cheered loudly at that, the mood in the room lighter than any of them had ever felt.

"Alright, I can't wait to see everyone again!" Souda said.

"This is so great, I'm gonna give everyone a good beating when they wake up!" said Owari, cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

Sonia laughed nervously. "Owari-san, I am not sure that is the appropriate action to take."

"Those bastards deserve it for having us worry over them for so long," Kuzuryuu said, though his tone betrayed his own excitement.

Hinata sighed happily. He felt a hand patting his head, and he looked up to see Komaeda beaming down at him. "What a bright, shining hope you have! I could feel it spread to everyone else; you truly are amazing, Hinata-kun"

"Er, thanks, I guess. Though it's not really me doing the work, it's Kamukura."

"Do you really think Kamukura-kun would do this himself?" Komaeda laughed. "He might have done all the manual labor, but it's because of your hope that he chose to help you out in the first place!"

"I- I guess." Komaeda's words left him feeling self-conscious for some reason, and he felt his face turn red. Well, to be fair, anytime Komaeda rambled on about hope, he felt uncomfortable, so maybe that was why he looked so embarrassed.

As the two of them chatted, Hinata saw the rest of the group leaving the room, a light spring to all of their steps as they happily chatted with each other about what they'd all do once their classmates awoke.

 _None of them are staying with us tomorrow,_ Kamukura noted as they watched Sonia close the door behind her.

 _Guess that means they trust you enough to watch over everyone without someone keeping an eye on you,_ Hinata said as he picked up some dirty napkins. Seriously, just because they weren't living here anymore didn't mean they could trash up the place. He was going to have to talk to them about it tomorrow.

Komaeda had passed out, probably from exerting himself too much doing whatever. Hinata carefully moved the blankets over the other man so that they covered his shoulders. Komaeda was beginning to look a lot healthier, with some of the color having returned to his pale skin, though the hand on his left arm still made Hinata feel uneasy. He carefully tucked the appendage under the covers as well, shuddering as his fingers ghosted over the long, red nails of Enoshima's severed hand.

Hinata sat down on his bed, his heart thumping not from the excitement he'd shared with his friends earlier, but the stress he felt from being around Komaeda. He was exhausted, not so much physically as he was emotionally. He hadn't realized dealing with Komaeda would be so draining, but the mere fact that he was now well and conscious seemed to put a constant strain on him. His obsession with hope, his poor physical condition, his rotting momento of Ultimate Despair... He felt his chest tighten painfully. He knew he _wanted_ to help Komaeda get better, but a part of him was also afraid of what Komaeda could be capable of once he was. His madness in the game was not something easily forgotten, after all. He recalled seeing Komaeda's lifeless body on the Fourth Island, eyes wide open with the spear having penetrated through his torso-

 _Hinata._

 _I'm fine, just… let me be._

Kamukura moved his left arm up to hug his right arm. _You're going into another panic attack. Your breathing is shallow._

 _I'll be fine._

 _Hinata, you need to calm down or you're going to shut down again. Try controlling your breathing, perhaps I could take over and-_

"Leave me _alone_!" he yelled. He felt Kamukura mentally back away into his corner of their shared mind. He panted a few times before curling into himself, not even caring enough to pull his covers over himself.

He heard Komaeda stir behind him, but he didn't turn to check up on the other man. He didn't need to see a physical reminder for the source of his anxiety, not right now. It took several minutes, but Hinata finally managed to get a hold of his breathing again. He felt like he ached all over. He closed his eyes, hoping he'd be able to pass out quickly enough so that his body wouldn't act up again.

In his last few conscious moments, Hinata accepted that tonight, he was going to have a very, very restless sleep.


End file.
